Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword - The Fang Lives On!
by Dark Lord Ereshkigal
Summary: I've always felt bad about killing Lloyd and Linus. They weren't bad people and could've had a lot of potential as good guys. So in this fic, Lloyd (and eventually Linus) both survive and join Eliwood's army! The Tactician is a Druid for plot reasons. This is my first attempt at a multi-chapter fic so go easy on it! DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fire Emblem.
1. Chapter 1 - Saved From Death

Fire Emblem 7 Fanfic – The Fang Lives On

A/N: Hey, guys! Dark Lord Ereshkigal here, this time with a much larger project in mind involving Fire Emblem 7! I've always been curious about what would've happened had the Reed brothers, Linus and Lloyd, survived their respective battles and joined forces with Eliwood's army. They were good people who happened to be on the wrong side and I always feel bad whenever I have to kill them, or at least Lloyd (talk to him with Nino in Cog of Destiny, you'll see what I mean). This fanfiction is my take on this alternate (and somewhat happier) timeline.

Taking the advice of an anonymous guest, I have decided to move most of the information about Dusk and the support pairings/romantic couples that can be found in this fic to my profile. If it's one of my favorite supports, chances are it'll be incorporated into the fic.

Chapter 1 – Saved from Death

Lloyd Reed stared off into the distance, mulling over the events that had just occurred. He had launched his army of the Black Fang upon Eliwood's, only for the attack to have completely, utterly failed. Not a single one of the enemy's army had been slain, but his entire force had been obliterated. Not only that, but Lloyd himself had been disarmed and defeated.

He should have been enraged or at least disappointed by his defeat. He was one of the Four Fangs, and defeat for one of the highest-ranking officers of the Black Fang was unacceptable. And yet…he remembered the conversation he had had with Eliwood, Hector, and Lyndis personally after the battle had ended. They were far from the brutal, ruthless thugs and murderers that Sonia had made them out to be. They had spared his life when they could have easily cut him down, and he had returned the favor by sparing them the justice of the Black Fang. The more he thought about it, the more he believed that Sonia and Nergal had lied to them and that they were the true evil. He had to talk to Linus; maybe together they could sort this out.

Suddenly, Lloyd felt a searing pain all over his body. "What…what is happening?" he thought frantically. He collapsed on the ground and saw with his own eyes Limstella, Nergal's primary lieutenant, in front of him, her hand still glowing from the Fimbulvetr that she had cast. "This can't be…" he muttered. He tried to get up, but the spell had hit him too suddenly and brutally and he couldn't even raise his arms. He was going to die here, alone, and his father, brother, and dear stepsister would never know the truth.

"White Wolf Lloyd…" Limstella spoke softly, "your quintessence is quite excellent. Lord Nergal will be very pleased..."

Lloyd braced himself for death, knowing there was nothing he could do. However, just as Limstella was about to drain Lloyd's quintessence and finish him off, a ring of dark energy flew toward her out of nowhere, knocking her aside before she could finish draining Lloyd's life away. Limstella whirled around, attempting to cast another Fimbulvetr at the offender, but the figure who had defended Lloyd's life effortlessly brushed the spell aside with the dark flames of Fenrir.

"You dare interfere with the work of Lord Nergal?" hissed Limstella. "The White Wolf lies dying. You can do nothing to save him."

"Perhaps that is so," the figure, which Lloyd recognized as a druid, replied. "But, I will never permit you to commit a deed as foul as stealing another's life force for the sake of your depraved master. You know that you cannot defeat me now. I advise you to retreat, or else Lord Nergal will soon lose his most powerful and reliable servant. If you are indeed that…" he added sarcastically.

The druid promptly called forth more purple flames and shot them at Limstella. Her magical resistance meant nothing against the power of Luna, and this time she was blasted far from Lloyd's body into a tree.

Limstella felt rage…or rather, a false copy of human anger, boiling inside her. She was a morph after all, and felt no true emotion. This druid, whoever he was, was getting in the way of Lord Nergal's bidding! However, as much as it "irritated" her to admit, he was right; Limstella could not defeat one so expertly practiced in dark magic, especially one who had mastered Luna. With little choice, she vanished away from the area. Let the White Wolf die. There would be other candidates for quintessence worthy of Lord Nergal's attentions…excellent candidates indeed.

The druid, satisfied that Limstella had fled and would not return, knelt down beside the dying figure of Lloyd Reed.

"Thank…you…" Lloyd gasped, "but you are…too…late. That…monster…has…"

"Save your breath, Lloyd Reed of the Black Fang. You are not going to die this day. I will make sure of that," the druid replied. The last thing Lloyd saw before he blacked out was the druid taking out a staff and begin chanting in an unknown tongue. And then darkness consumed him.

A/N: As you can probably tell, Dusk would have to be pretty powerful to be able to successfully drive away a Sage as powerful as Limstella. But don't worry, I won't let this degenerate into a fic where the Tactician kills everything, THE END.

Read and review please!


	2. Chapter 2 - In the Hands of the Enemy

A/N: Hooray! Lloyd has been saved! I'm pretty sure that every FE7 player who's not a complete jackass felt sorry for him and his brother. However, though Lloyd may have been saved from Limstella, he is now in the hands of his (former) enemies. What will he make of them and what will they make of him? Read and review!

Chapter 2 – In the Hands of the Enemy

The first thing that Lloyd saw when he woke up was that he was in a tent. He was disoriented at first, but quickly got over it and began assessing his surroundings. The tent was fairly well-furnished for a mere tent, so it must have been a command tent of some kind. As he got up, he noticed the druid that had saved him sitting next to his cot on a chair.

"So you have awakened, White Wolf."

Lloyd asked warily, "Where am I? And…who are you?"

The druid smiled though the rest of his face betrayed nothing. "My true name I will not reveal for my own purposes. For now, you may simply call me Dusk. Though I am well-versed in what you would call dark magic, in truth I regard myself as a tactician."

Lloyd stared, confused. "A…tactician, you say? For who?"

"A tactician willingly serving the army of Lord Eliwood, Lord Hector, and Lady Lyndis. You encountered us just yesterday. As I recall, we utterly defeated the Black Fang forces that you had mustered to ambush us."

Lloyd was suddenly wide awake. If they were enemies, it was quite possible that Dusk could take revenge on him for trying to kill his friends and allies. But that made no sense. Why would Dusk rescue him from Limstella only to kill him later?

Dusk sensed the man's anxiety and understood his thoughts. He laughed softly, "You can relax your mind, my friend; you are in no danger here. I spoke with the commanders in the army and they have agreed to treat you as a guest, not as a prisoner. They will be here shortly to question you, but it will not be so much an interrogation as…a friendly conversation. You have no objection, I trust?"

Lloyd shook his head. Dusk, Eliwood, Hector, and Lyndis had already been more than hospitable by saving, accepting in and taking care of one who until recently had been their enemy. Answering their questions was the least he could do for them.

"Very well, then," the Tactician responded. He called outside of the tent, "Eliwood! Hector! Lyndis! Our guest has awakened!"

Dusk instantly teleported away (a characteristic of most skilled magic users and one that Lloyd had always secretly envied) and Hector, Lyndis, and Eliwood walked into the tent.

"We meet again, White Wolf," Eliwood greeted him first. "Are you all right? Dusk told us that you had nearly died by that morph's attack."

Lloyd grimaced at the unpleasant recollection. "Yes…and that morph…Limstella, I believe her name was…had tried to take something from me before I died. What was it called…yes, that was it! Quintessence. Do you know anything about it?" he asked.

The three Lords looked at each other in confusion. It was clear that none of them really knew what Lloyd was talking about. Lloyd himself didn't either.

"If I may ask…why did Dusk save me from Limstella? I was your adversary. You defeated me and it was only because of our mutual honor that we had agreed not to continue the conflict."

"That's just it, Lloyd," Lyn replied with a light, friendly voice. "Dusk sensed that you aren't like the other Black Fang members we faced. You have honor, true loyalty, and even compassion. Dusk had a feeling that you were in danger after you departed, so he followed you. It was a good thing that he did, too, or else you wouldn't be here right now. He may seem secretive and sometimes even sinister, but he has a good heart."

Normally, the concept of being followed would be threatening to Lloyd, and he generally reacted by dealing with his pursuers. However, Dusk must have been very stealthy (possibly through his dark magic), and since his actions had saved his life Lloyd wasn't going to complain.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. "Linus! My brother! I need to tell him everything! Nergal, Sonia, Limstella, they've been lying to and corrupting the Black Fang the entire time!"

"That isn't going to work, Lloyd," Hector replied a bit roughly. "By now, Limstella will surely have notified Sonia that you have survived, possibly even that you are under our care. That witch will have taken action against you, either by proclaiming you as dead or claiming that you have betrayed the Black Fang. If the latter happens, you're as good as dead if you try to approach them by yourself. I'm not one for patience, but I think you should stick with us until you come up with a plan."

Lloyd reluctantly had to agree. Hector was right. Limstella and Sonia would either have labeled him dead, or even worse, as a traitor to the Fang. His brother Linus would never believe such a lie, but countless others of the Black Fang would try to take advantage of this and kill him to claim his position. His best bet was to tag along with Dusk's forces, and hope for a happier reunion later on. However, he was still a Black Fang at heart, so he could not be so quick to throw his services to Eliwood…

"Forgive me for saying this, but I do not entirely trust you yet."

Hector growled, "Why, you…" but Lyn shot him a glare that silenced him.

"Do not forget, Lord Hector. We were enemies only moments before. I must decide for myself whether or not I can trust you; I would be a fool to do so right this instant. But of this you can be certain: I am an honorable man and am in your debt. I will travel with you for now, and while I may not fight, I will not betray you to the Fang either. Of this you may be certain."

The three lords looked at each other quickly, communicating unspoken words. At last, Hector turned to Lloyd.

"I suppose if I were in your position, I would say the same thing," he grumbled. "All right, I guess this is the best arrangement we can make for now. But I warn you now: I can respect even my enemies, but I show no mercy to those who break their vows. Do we have an understanding?" he asked, his eyes coldly regarding Lloyd.

Lloyd nodded. "You have nothing to fear from my presence in your army."

At that point, Dusk reappeared. "My apologies for interrupting, but we have arrived at our destination. Hector believes that the Fire Emblem may be located in one of the three forts here, and we must find it. We have also identified the leader of the enemy Black Fang army here. His name is Pascal."

Lloyd gritted his teeth. "THAT blackheart? What's he doing here?"

Hector looked at him in confusion, "You know about Pascal?"

Lloyd growled, "He was once one of the Four Fangs, but he was imprisoned because he killed countless people for no reason at all. One time, he slaughtered an entire village population inside his castle just to ensure that one person would die. My father imprisoned him, but if he's been freed…this is bad. Very bad. It means Sonia's control even stronger than I had previously imagined."

There were various exclamations of disgust at the news that Lloyd had just relayed. Hector slammed his axe down onto the table. "What are we waiting for?" he exclaimed, "Let's show him some TRUE justice!"


	3. Chapter 3 - A Terrible Discovery

A/N: This chapter's going to be pretty short, but important nonetheless. Don't forget to keep reading and reviewing? Constructive criticism is always welcome, but flames will be chilled out with Nino's Fimbulvetr.

Chapter 3 – A Terrible Discovery

"Lloyd? Lloyd! Where are you?"

Linus searched around frantically where his brother had last been stationed. He had already heard the reports that his brother had utterly lost the battle against the lords' armies, and that Lloyd himself had gone missing. Where had his brother gone? Surely, the White Wolf of the Four Fangs, with his total mastery in the art of swordplay, couldn't be…

He stopped dead in his tracks, his face contorting in anguish and rage at the horrifying sight he had just discovered. Before him lay a huge pool of blood. And in that pool of blood was a silver pendant in the shape of a claw, one that only a member of the Reed family would recognize.

Linus knelt down and picked it up with a shaking hand. It was the pendant that his father, Brendan Reed, had given to him and his brother long ago. It was the symbol that had represented his part in the creation of the Four Fangs and a representation of their family love and strength. There was no way that Lloyd would have willingly parted from the pendant. That could only mean one thing…his brother had been killed. And from the ghastly sight in front of him, it had been a very violent and brutal death.

Rage flooded through Linus. His brother had been killed by those wicked lords. He recalled their names with hatred: Hector, Eliwood, and Lyndis. Sonia had been right all along, they truly were evil. They had shown no mercy to his brother. Not only had they destroyed him with a gruesome death, they hadn't even possessed the decency to leave his body in peace!

Well, he'd show them. He'd show them all! He would dedicate the rest of his life to hunting down those lords and anybody who served them in the name of the Reed family! He would carry out the vengeance of Lloyd Reed from beyond the grave!

"Lord Linus?"

Linus turned to see Igor standing in front of him, a worried look on his face.

"My brother…Lloyd…is dead…Igor," Linus answered shakily.

"Wh…what?" Igor gasped. "That can't be! How…?"

"Lloyd would never have abandoned his family heirloom, Igor," Linus answered shakily. He was clearly trying to keep his composure, if only to avoid terrifying his lieutenant. "There is only one possible explanation. My brother was killed by those lords that Sonia mentioned."

"What are you going to do, Linus?" asked a concerned and slightly scared Igor.

"Assemble the men, Igor. I'm going to make preparations. And then we are going to hunt those evildoers down and bring down the wrath of Lloyd upon their heads!"

As Igor turned away to follow Linus' instructions, the Hero knelt down beside the pool of blood. He closed his eyes and swore his oath: "I will avenge you, brother…or die trying!"

A/N: Poor Linus…if he only knew the truth…

Read and review please!


	4. Chapter 4 - Change in Allegiance

A/N: Hey, guys! Here's the next chapter! This chapter will take place approximately during the level where Vaida and the wyvern riders ambush our favorite heroes.

Chapter 4 – Change in Allegiance

"Dammit, Hector! That was a complete waste of time!"

"Oh, come on, it was a worth a shot, Lyndis! It seemed like a good idea from what I heard in the area!"

"You're an idiot, you know that?"

Lloyd, who had been sitting inside the command tent during the whole exchange, shook his head at the bickering voices of Lord Hector and Lady Lyndis. Judging by their words, they had clearly failed to find the Fire Emblem in the forts.

"Calm down, you two!" interjected Eliwood finally. "Look on the bright side. At least Pascal's dead and, judging by how large the force we fought was, we did some significant damage to the Black Fang's forces. And we also found a new Pegasus knight recruit that Hector met during the battle."

"Look at my pegasus!" an unfamiliar voice shrieked from outside of his tent. "He got scratched! I demand that you pay me extra compensation for the damages done to Murphy!"

"You call that good news? I already regret paying her the 20000," replied Hector's voice sarcastically.

Lloyd smirked, silently agreeing with Hector. Apparently that Pegasus knight was going to be quite a lot to handle for their little army. He decided to practice some of his sword stances when, suddenly, Eliwood's head poked into the tent.

"Sorry about that, Lloyd," the Pheraen heir apologized. "The Fire Emblem wasn't inside any of those fortresses. Lyn's furious and she thought the whole thing was a waste of time."

"I figured as much," replied Lloyd. "The whole camp could probably hear them shouting. And that Pegasus knight seems quite…vocal in getting what she wants."

Eliwood laughed. "I agree with you. It's funny, because apparently all three of the Pegasus knights are sisters, and yet they're all very different. Maybe not Fiora and Florina, but definitely Farina. She's the new recruit."

Lloyd raised an eyebrow; although he was clearly surprised he didn't show it easily. "An odd coincidence, don't you think?"

"You're certainly right about that! At any rate, Lloyd, my main reason for coming here is to tell you that we're approaching Bern Keep very soon. Lyn, Hector, and I are going to conduct some espionage and listen in on the Bern Royal Family."

"Isn't that a little risky?"

"Absolutely, but it's also one of the most effective ways of finding information. We need to find the Shrine of Seals in order to find the Sacred Weapons to defeat Nergal, and we can only do it through Bern's royal family."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Lloyd asked.

Eliwood shook his head. "No. I can see that you haven't fully recovered yet, and it would be a disaster if one of the Four Fangs was caught spying on the royal family. That would not only ruin any chances of us finding the Shrine of Seals, but it might also cause a war to break out," Eliwood informed him. "We will call on your services eventually, but now is not the best time to do so. I'm sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry for. And you're right; it's probably best if I keep a low profile for now," replied Lloyd. "I think I'll take the time to introduce myself to some other members of your army."

Eliwood smiled. "That's a great idea, Lloyd! Who knows? You may even find a familiar face."

"Lord Eliwood!" called Dusk from outside. "We're going now."

"Coming!" shouted Eliwood. He turned to Dusk, "I'm sorry, Lloyd, I have to go." And with that, he left the tent.

Taking his own advice, Lloyd decided to exit the tent and greet some other members of the Elibean army. To his surprise, most of the army greeted him in a friendly manner, even those who had battled against him a few days ago. However, he didn't recognize anybody he knew until he suddenly saw…

"Legault! Is that you?"

The Hurricane turned towards Lloyd, clearly surprised to hear his voice.

"Well, isn't this a pleasant surprise?" Legault responded, a smile slowly growing on his face. "I thought you were dead back at the valley!"

"That's almost true," Lloyd laughed, "but thankfully Dusk turned that into a falsehood at the last minute! I didn't expect you to be here, though. Why did you leave the Fang?"

Legault's smile disappeared. "The Fang has changed, Lloyd," Legault replied solemnly. Ever since Sonia came into it, we've been less and less about fighting evil and more about being a giant pack of sellswords."

Lloyd looked at Legault uneasily, but said nothing. Legault continued, "Even my duties took a turn for the worse. My job as cleaning house used to be killing off traitors, and I had no qualms about that since it didn't violate my sense of honor and loyalty. But now anybody who's "unskilled" or "weakened" has simply got to go. I had to kill Aesha because that bastard Ephidel told me to, and he watched me do it. After that, I knew that it was time to go. I had my moral code and my soul to consider."

Legault finally looked Lloyd in the eye. "If you want to know what I think, I believe they might try to assassinate the Prince of Bern, Lloyd. Prince Zephiel."

Lloyd gasped in horror. He whispered, "Are you serious? They're going to murder Prince Zephiel?"

Legault nodded hesitantly. "This is only just a guess, Lloyd, but I witnessed something that disturbed me. A few days before I left the Fang and joined Eliwood's army, I had seen the king of Bern himself talking to Sonia in the winter fort. Desmond was in disguise, and I swear I could hear him saying something along the lines of 'that no-good son of mine will never be King.' I didn't hear more than that, but based on this I honestly think it means they're going to try to assassinate Prince Zephiel."

Lloyd straightened up, his mind tormented by this new information. Only just a few days ago, he had accepted the order to kill Lord Eliwood without question. And now…not only had Eliwood been revealed to be a kind and respectable young man, but the Prince of Zephiel was possibly also in danger of being assassinated? Why would the Fang, if it was truly what it used to be, even consider committing such acts of violence and deception against innocents? Why would it have permitted the release of Pascal or the slaughtering of innocents?

The White Wolf could not hide it from himself anymore. Regardless of whether or not Legault's black rumor was true, he knew in his heart that the Fang had become the true evil ever since his father had decided to wed Sonia. His stepmother, and through her that blackheart Nergal, had destroyed the morals of the Fang and turned it into a pack of ruthless sellswords. There was only way that he could ever possibly revert the Fang to what it had once been.

"Legault, I think you made the right decision."

Legault started. "Wha…? You're sure about this?"

"You saw long before any of us did that the Black Fang, or at least the Black Fang that we used to know, was doomed. You saw that Eliwood, Hector, and Lyndis were good people and escaped the cesspit of this new Fang before it was too late. I think…I'm ready to join you. If not for the good of Elibe, then for a Fang that may yet be saved."

Legault stared at Lloyd for several moments, and then his face broke into a wide grin. "I'm here to support you, Lloyd. The Hurricane is at your command!"

"Such loyalty…I commend you, Legault. You are much more than a mere assassin."

To both Lloyd's and Legault's surprise, Dusk magically appeared before them. "I was looking for you two and happened to overhear your conversation. I am truly glad to hear that you are much more willing to fight alongside us. However, I must ask you this aloud. Are you prepared to sever ties with the Fang, even if it means fighting against them?"

"I am," Lloyd replied evenly. "for two reasons. One is that I owe you a debt, and I will not be at peace with myself until I have settled it. The other is because I know in my heart that you are in the right and that the Black Fang is in the wrong, and I would be insulting my family's honor if I aligned myself with evil."

"Even if your family, knowingly or not, serves that evil?"

"Even then," Lloyd asserted firmly. "However, you must realize that not everybody in the Black Fang is evil. My brother Linus has sentiments like mine, even though Sonia's word is essentially law now. There's also my adopted stepsister, Nino, who is as innocent as most of the other girls in this camp (He mentally rolled his eyes at a certain annoying pink-haired cleric. As new as he was to Eliwood's army he could already tell that said cleric was a bit much for anyone to handle). Also, my father may have been blinded by Sonia but he has a good heart. All I ask in return for my services is that you keep an open mind regarding some of the Fang."

Dusk nodded, signaling his acceptance of these terms. "I accept these terms gladly. Anybody who is capable of redemption should be given that opportunity. I also heard…" at this, Dusk's voice became etched with concern and…was it possible? Worry? "That you believe that King Desmond is planning to kill his son through the Black Fang. How much do you truly believe this statement?"

Lloyd and Legault looked at each other. "Right now…" Legault finally answered, "this is nothing but a guess. But I think there's a pretty decent chance of it being true."

"Hmm…at any rate, we'll find out the answers soon enough," Dusk responded. His voice suddenly turned businesslike. "We were ambushed by some wyvern riders and Black Fang while you two were talking. We won the battle, and Lyn claims that she can track them down to the main Black Fang base."

"She doesn't need to do that," Lloyd responded. "I can take you to the main fort of the Black Fang. Just a heads-up, though," he added warningly, "it's going to be very, VERY cold."

A/N: So, Lloyd has made his choice and sided with our armies! Considering how badass he and his stats were as an enemy, I think it's safe to say that Eliwood, Hector, Lyndis, and Dusk have just made a very powerful ally. I should probably add that currently, he has a Light Brand and a Killing Edge. Next chapter, Lloyd will actually fight! Let the pwnage begin!

Read and review please!


	5. Chapter 5 - Battle of the Winter Fort

A/N: Hey, peoples! It's now time to see Lloyd in action! This battle assumes Kenneth's version of Pale Flower of Darkness.

Chapter 5 – The Battle of the Winter Fort

"There are multiple buildings scattered in the overall location. Most of these contain headquarters where the Black Fang members live, sleep, and operate the fort. A few, however, do contain some treasure that the Black Fang keeps for itself," Legault was briefing the lords and Dusk on the nature of the mountain fort. Lloyd stood next to him, confirming and occasionally correcting details that Legault might have missed or gotten wrong. Lloyd had been to the fortress many times, much more so than Legault.

"Do you know who their commander is, by any chance? Is it likely that we'll find Brendan Reed or Sonia there?" Hector asked.

Lloyd shook his head. "It's possible, but that would be too obvious for either Sonia or my father. The commander of that area is much more likely to be a bishop named Kenneth or an assassin named Jerme. They're both completely nuts; Kenneth is one sadistic piece of work and Jerme is an outright psycho. Unfortunately, they're both strong, and very dangerous."

"Who exactly are Kenneth and Jerme?" asked Lyn curiously.

"Kenneth is a bishop who's gone evil and insane," responded Legault. "He believes that there are no gods apart from Nergal, and as Lloyd just said, is brutal and ruthless with his light magic."

"Bah! What kind of man would follow Nergal like that?" growled Hector.

"I can't give you an answer, Lord Hector, because I just don't know," answered Legault. "Now, as for Jerme, he's known as the Death Kite. He used to be one of the Four Fangs."

"USED to be?" questioned Eliwood.

"He got demoted once Jaffar came and took his spot," Lloyd clarified. "Admittedly, Jaffar is a far superior fighter than Jerme, so when judging purely based on skill Sonia made the right call. Fortunately, even as an assassin, he never really learned how to pull off those killing blows that make assassins so deadly. Even so, he's still a lot stronger than your typical Black Fang member."

"I believe we're almost here," pointed out Dusk. Everyone turned to see a forbidding building perched high above the mountains."

The army gathered on the very outskirts of the fortress. Eliwood, Hector, Dusk, Lyndis, Ninian, and Nils all crept up to a building where they could hear Sonia, Jaffar, Nino, and Brendan talking from the outside. Before they snuck away, they saw Sonia give a red-robed bishop an item. The six regrouped with Lloyd at another part of the fortress.

"What news, Dusk?" asked Lloyd.

"Very bad news, Lloyd," the tactician replied sadly. "Sonia and Desmond are indeed planning Prince Zephiel's assassination. And what's worse, they're sending Nino and Jaffar to do the job."

"WHAT?" gasped Lloyd. "Why would Sonia be sending her own daughter to do this foul deed? Would Jaffar alone not have sufficed?"

"I don't know, but I don't like it," growled Hector. "We need to get the Fire Emblem and get out of here before…"

Suddenly, a burst of light shot out of the ground and Kenneth appeared before them.

"…we're spotted…" Hector finished lamely.

"Well, well. Trespassers," he sneered, "I bid you welcome. It's a pity that you will never leave here alive!" He suddenly noticed Lloyd's presence, and his eyes widened in surprise. "Lloyd Reed! Why have you not already turned your blade upon these fools? Why do you stand alongside them? Do you mean to betray the Fang?"

All eyes turned to Lloyd. Here was the moment of truth. Was Lloyd truly ready to join their side, or would his loyalty to the Black Fang turn them against him? There was a silence as Lloyd considered Kenneth's words.

"I mean to save it from itself," Lloyd finally growled, "something that a madman like you can never understand."

Immediately, sighs of relief and happiness flooded through Eliwood's Elite. Kenneth's expression, however, turned into one of fury. "Deluded fool," spat the evil bishop, "the Fang is Nergal's now. And I look forward to blasting your miserable existence into oblivion. I will succeed where Lady Limstella failed."

Kenneth then teleported into the fortress, and Nils and Ninian informed them that a magic barrier had been set up. The only way to dispel it was to kill Kenneth and claim the throne upon which he sat.

"All right, time to make a plan," Dusk informed the rest of the army. "I'm going to divide our forces into two groups. It looks like a lot of the enemies are magic users, so Canas, Priscilla, Lucius, Serra, and Pent are going to be in this battle. However, I can also see quite a few wyvern riders, so I'm going to have some physical fighters all the same. Florina, Bartre, Farina, and Lloyd, you're going to be accompanying our magic users so that they don't get cut down. Eliwood, Lyndis, and Hector will also participate, and I'll choose Legault to loot the fortress this time. Legault, Florina, Lloyd, Hector, Serra, and Pent will be going down the narrow alley to the north. Canas, Priscilla, Lucius, Guy, and Fiora will attack the fortress through that door to the east and take down the enemies inside. I'll be accompanying the northern group. We need to make sure we kill that bishop Kenneth, or we'll never be able to leave. Now, move out!

No sooner had the army started moving forward, when bolts of energy and light rained down upon them. "Curses," thought Lloyd, "they have long-ranged spells!" Fortunately, however, most of his allies were able to either dodge the attacks entirely or suffered little damage thanks to high magic resistance. Meanwhile, the wyvern riders had begun their charge, only to be stopped by the Pegasus knights and an axe-swinging Bartre who were fiercely defending their magical allies.

The biggest challenge that they had faced was when a Bishop (one that wasn't Kenneth) was casting Purge upon them and a mage was firing Bolting from a distance. To counter this, Dusk had Canas cast a Berserk spell and now the Bishop was savagely attacking his own forces. Eliwood's army took advantage of this distraction to wipe out the rest of the forces, with little injury to his own troops.

Lloyd approached Dusk once most of the ground forces were eliminated. "Dusk, I need to inform you of something."

"Yes, Lloyd?" Dusk turned to the White Wolf.

"Near the room where Kenneth waits, there is a treasure chest with many valuable items. No doubt Kenneth will have given orders to thieves to salvage the treasures in case things went badly."

"Thank you, Lloyd. I'll make sure to take your information into account in the next few orders that I give."

Lloyd, Legault, and Bartre all crowded into one of the buildings. The Druid and the shamans that were stationed in the building all stared at Lloyd and Legault in shock.

"C-Commander Lloyd…Legault…" the Druid stuttered. "W-Why do you side with them? W-why do you betray the Black Fang? You are our commanders, our leaders. N-none of us would ever have suspected…"

"Peace, captain," Lloyd replied. "The Fang, the true Fang that my father created, is dying. I have seen many good men die, something which would have never happened in the true Fang. Nergal's lieutenant herself attempted to slay me and would have succeeded if the tactician in Eliwood's army had not intervened."

Lloyd sighed. "I do not wish to shed blood needlessly, but I know in my heart that the Lycian army is in the right and that the Fang has been corrupted. What I wish to do now is to rebuild the Fang as it once was. I ask you to lay down your arms, for if you do not, then I must fight. And I will fight without mercy."

The Black Fang members and Lloyd stared at each other for several seconds. At last, the Druid raised his arms. "I'm sorry, Commander, but I am completely loyal to the Black Fang. I cannot stand down to a traitor, even one who claims to have noble intentions."

The Druid immediately began casting a Nosferatu spell. Unfortunately for him, he was too slow in casting the spell, and Lloyd was able to dodge the orbs that would have sapped his essence. Lloyd took out his Light Brand and whirled around with blinding speed, so quickly that it was almost as though he disappeared. The next thing he knew, Lloyd had sliced through his enemy's robes and body multiple times, landing nimbly on the ground as his foe collapsed. "Forgive me," Lloyd said softly, stabbing his opponent through the heart so that he would not suffer a slow and painful death.

The rest of the shamans dropped their tomes and fled in a panic. Meanwhile, Lloyd walked outside to gather information on how the battle was going.

The battle was once again going exceedingly well for Eliwood's army. The entire fortress had been almost completely purged of enemies, either by death or in a few cases by surrender. They had even recruited a Hero with a troubled past, Harken, who had intended to decimate the Black Fang independently before Eliwood had convinced him to join with them. All that was left now was the room where Kenneth was located.

Lloyd volunteered to be the one to take down Kenneth; he took out his Killing Edge and cut down the swordmaster that was guarding the mad bishop.

"Traitor…" hissed Kenneth. "You've gotten far, but it's about time I end this. I will enjoy listening to your suffering. And once you are destroyed, I will take your place in the Four Fangs."

"I would try to reason with you, Kenneth, but that would be a waste of my time. And replace me at your skill level? Never!" Lloyd responded coldly, readying his blade.

Kenneth immediately started chanting, and a mighty light created from his Aura tome shot towards Lloyd. Lloyd effortlessly dodged the attack, countering by striking at the Shrike with the Killing Edge. The Bishop narrowly avoided the attack, but before he could start chanting again Lloyd spun his sword so rapidly that Kenneth could not even see where it was until the blade was stuck deep in his chest.

"Does this mean that…I…lose…" Kenneth moaned before collapsing on the floor, dead.

"That takes care of that," muttered Legault, who had finished looting the chests. Lloyd nodded in agreement. "Wait…is that?"

"That's the Fire Emblem!" Hector exclaimed. "The madman had it all along?"

"Apparently," Lyn replied.

"We need to hurry!" Eliwood exclaimed. "We have to stop the assassination of Prince Zephiel!"

As everyone else rushed out of the fortress, Lloyd turned to take one last look at the fallen bishop. Kenneth hadn't always been the madman that he just slain. Once, long ago, he had been a pious servant of Elimine and had possessed a kind heart. Lloyd shuddered before turning back to follow the rest of Eliwood's army, knowing with a sinking feeling that Nergal's power and insanity were great indeed if he could corrupt men like Kenneth.

/

Isn't Lloyd such a badass? I'm thinking of putting his stats somewhere between his Cog of Destiny stats and his overpowered Morph stats + 15-20 points of Luck. Also, while Linus will eventually be joining and Jaffar clearly will for obvious reasons, that still leaves Ursula unaccounted for. Should I kill her off or let her join as well? Right now I plan to have her killed just like in the actual storyline. I'll let you guys decide. Read and review please!


	6. Chapter 6 - The Heart of a True Fang

A/N: At this point, a lot happens in each mission so these chapters are going to start getting pretty long. This is it: the chapter where Nino, Lloyd, and Jaffar will all reunite! Will Lloyd be able to find Nino and convince her that Eliwood's army are the good guys? Will they be able to rescue Jaffar? Find out now!

Chapter 6 – The Heart of a True Fang

Jaffar and Nino crept silently in the Halls of the Zephiel's Manse. They had been given a crucial task by Sonia sent from King Desmond himself – to assassinate the prince. Jaffar quietly led the way up to Zephiel's room, Nino following in his wake. He opened the door stealthily to see the prince's back towards him.

Zephiel was muttering something quietly, his knees bent and his arm reached ut in in prayer. Jaffar could sense, rather than see, the sympathy and tears welling in Nino's eyes. But there was no time for that. The assassin crept up behind Zephiel and knocked him out with a chokehold. He turned to Nino, "Do it. Now."

Nino didn't move for several moments, tears in her eyes. Finally, she let out a sob and exclaimed, "I can't do it, Jaffar. I can't. He's just like me. Listen to him, Jaffar. All he wants…is his parents' love…to be accepted…that's all. He's just like me. No matter how hard I try, Mother always looks at me as if I were nothing. Her eyes are always filled with shame."

"Nino, stop this foolishness!" snapped Jaffar.

"I can't do it, Jaffar. I know what this means. Just for pity's sake, spare the Prince. I'm ready to die…" Nino closed her eyes.

Jaffar stared silently at her, for once in his life completely uncertain about what to do. Could he do it? Could he really kill someone who was so innocent, so full of life and vigor who was ready to sacrifice herself for the sake of a complete stranger? Could he really kill someone like Nino on behalf of a wicked mother and a pawn of Nergal?

No, he could never do such a thing. At that moment, Jaffar realized more than just how much Nino actually cared for him, and even more importantly how much he had begun to care for her. He realized that Nergal and Sonia were nothing but demons seeking to tear the world apart, and that he had been serving monsters the entire time. He had wasted his life ruthlessly murdering many innocents, but here was a chance to do something right. He could take Nino away from the Fang, from this life of death and murder. He did not deserve to live, but she most definitely did.

"Come…" Jaffar finally spoke.

"What?" Nino asked, surprised that she was not already dead.

"We're going," muttered Jaffar. The two quickly left the Prince's room only to run into Ursula. Unfortunately, Nino soon gave away how they had spared Zephiel's life, and as expected the Blue Crow was furious by this turn of event.

"You're worthless, both of you! I'll finish the job myself, and kill both of your pathetic hides. Maxime, blow off all the torches! And send everyone inside to finish the job! Our target is Prince Zephiel and two traitors!"

"Run, Nino!" Jaffar hissed. He grabbed Nino by the arm and they started running. "Nino," Jaffar turned to the girl, "you must flee! I'll stay here and buy you time."

"But…" Nino whimpered.

"Just do it!" Jaffar snarled firmly. "You're worthy of life, Nino. I'm not. If you can get some help, do so! I'll hold them off for as long as I can."

After moments of hesitation, Nino finally turned and ran down the corridor. Jaffar ran back towards the western hallway. He was going to die, there was almost no doubt about that. But he would make them pay. Oh, would he make them pay. It was time for the Angel of Death to unleash his full fury.

Lloyd and the rest of Eliwood's army frantically raced toward the entrance of the Prince's manse. Already they could hear sounds of fighting. Wait a minute….fighting?

"This is a good sign," Hector commented. "If they're still fighting, then maybe we're not too late!"

Dusk wasted no time in splitting up the army into two groups. He only selected a few soldiers; if the groups were too big then it would only slow everybody down, and right now speed was essential. Lloyd elected to go with Hector and Lyndis through the main gate, while Legault, Eliwood, Ninian, and a few others would sneak in through a side door.

"I'll see you later, Legault," Lloyd muttered as his friend vanished into the darkness. He turned to follow Hector, who was already engaged in combat with Black Fang forces. This time, however, Lloyd showed no hesitation in cutting down his enemies. He had placed his loyalties with the Lycian alliance, and he needed to prove that his loyalties were genuine even if it meant slaying those who had once been his allies. Within moments, the first enemies in the corridor had been wiped out, and Lyndis opened the door to the next room. In the distance, Lloyd could hear a young girl shouting out an Elfire incantation.

Wait a minute…a young girl? That voice was…

"Nino!" exclaimed Lloyd in astonishment and horror.

"What?" asked Dusk, confused.

"Nino's over there! Why's she even fighting?"

"Something tells me that we won't like the answer…" Dusk murmured. He called out to Lyndis, "Lyn! Find the girl! Let her know who we are and that she's safe with us!" Immediately, the Sacaen plainswoman burst through the main hall. She could see a young girl with green hair trembling with fear and the incinerated corpse of a monk.

The girl saw her also. "Hurry!" she exclaimed. "Save the prince! You need to protect him! I'll take care of anything that happens out here!"

"Wait…" Lyn realized, "you're Nino, aren't you?"

"What? How…"

At that moment, Lloyd burst into the main hallway, his eyes frantically searching for Nino. The girl's eyes lit up in pure joy and relief as she saw her stepbrother!

"Lloyd!" Nino called happily.

"Nino!" the Swordmaster exclaimed. The two embraced and, for a moment, forgot all of their troubles.

"Brother! What are you doing here? I thought you were with the Black Fang…"

"Nino..." Lloyd said seriously, "there's something I must tell you."

- an explanation later -

"Wh-what?" Nino asked tearfully. "The Black Fang has turned evil? But…Lloyd…."

"I know it's hard to believe…" Lloyd said sadly, "but it's true. One of your mother's friends tried to kill me, and would have succeeded had Eliwood and his friends not intervened. Ninian and Nils are just innocent children. I've met them personally. The Black Fang…the true Black Fang…is dead, and what remains are pawns of Nergal. Uhai and Legault were some of the few truly good people left in the Fang. Uhai is dead and Legault has joined Eliwood as well. As for Linus…I don't know where he is."

"But…what about…mother…" Nino whimpered.

"Look inside your heart, Nino. You already know the attack on the Prince was wrong."

Nino didn't say anything for several moments. Finally, she nodded, "I trust you, Lloyd. But we have to get Jaffar too!"

"Jaffar!" Lloyd gasped in surprise. "Where is he?"

"In the western hallway! Sonia had sent him with me to kill Prince Zephiel, but he decided to sacrifice himself to save me! He's in the middle of the Black Fang's forces! We have to help him, Lloyd! Please?"

"If he truly spared and saved your life, we need to return the favor," Lloyd responded, grabbing his blade. "Dusk!"

"Yes?" the Druid tactician asked, having finally come around the corner to where they stood

"There's an assassin named Jaffar further down the corridor. We have to rescue him, but he's surrounded by Black Fang!"

"The Angel of Death?" Dusk raised his eyebrows in confusion. "Isn't he that…"

"I know you know him as a heartless killer, but he's changed!" cried Nino, "He spared the Prince's life and is giving himself up to save mine!"

Dusk nodded. There was no time to argue, and he instinctively trusted Nino; she seemed so innocent and honest. However, he needed to find a way for his forces to rescue Jaffar without letting them know that he was the reason why they were suddenly advancing, or else some of them would protest and that would waste precious time. "Everyone, gather up! We're charging into the hallway! We need to make sure that the Prince is safe before the Black Fang gets to his room!"

Jaffar was starting to get nervous. He had easily dispatched of most of the Black Fang forces foolish enough to challenge him, but his Killing Edge was fragile and beginning to break. If it did, he was finished. An assassin, even a professional one like him, was worthless without a weapon.

He had just finished killing a mage who had assaulted him when, suddenly, he could hear sounds of fighting on a much larger scale drawing closer and closer. Jaffar couldn't dwell on that at the moment, as a knight was trying to stab him with his lance. Even with a weapon triangle advantage, though, the Knight was no match for Jaffar's evasive abilities, and was quickly taken out with a stab so deep it cut through the Knight's armor and into his vitals.

His Killing Edge nearly broken, he turned to see his next challenger…only to find that they were all dead. Instead, he saw several unfamiliar faces, along with...

"Jaffar!" Nino cried out.

"Nino?" the assassin responded in surprise. "I told you to flee."

"No, these people came and helped me! Hurry, Jaffar! Come with me!"

"Go…there's no need to save a life without worth."

"Jaffar…"

"I have been a corpse since the day I was born. Leave me to die…"

"No! If you're not coming, then I'm staying! I don't want you to die, Jaffar…"

"Perhaps you don't have to..."

Lloyd Reed stepped forward, his hand on Nino's shoulder. "You're not the only one who has decided to turn from the Black Fang. We need to stick together and save every life capable of redemption. I admit that I never really trusted you in the past, Jaffar. However, the Angel of Death that I saw back then would never have turned away from Nergal's bidding on behalf of a young and innocent life. I'm willing to give you a chance. The question is: are you?"

Jaffar didn't need to spend a minute considering Lloyd's proposal. The White Wolf's words were confirmation enough that he had chosen the right path. After he had nodded his agreement, Nino hugged him happily. "Since when had the two of them grown so close?" Lloyd wondered. He raised an eyebrow but otherwise said nothing.

The fighting was fierce but for the most part it was a decisive victory. Jaffar had already killed Maxime, Ursula's general, long before the Lycian forces had rescued the assassin and the Black Fang members they now faced were fairly unskilled compared to the Lycian army. The battle did get a little trickier once the more elite Snipers, Generals, and Heroes began to join the fray, but they were taken out quickly before they could group together and become a more powerful offensive force.

Ursula cursed under her breath. This was not going at all according to plan. It was supposed to be a simple task. How could one prince, one assassin, and one young mage take on an entire army? There must have been other reinforcements, whose arrival had turned out to be a disaster for her. Ursula had thought that King Desmond had lured Murdock away, so why was there suddenly resistance? It mattered not; she had a job to do. She charged into the battle on her horse, determined to strike down Prince Zephiel with a Bolting tome from afar and complete her mission. However, once she had entered the main hallway, she saw…

"Lloyd! What are you doing with those two pathetic little traitors? Are you insane! Do you presume to betray the Black Fang as well? You are a disgrace!"

Lloyd turned to confront the Blue Crow. "I do not care for the will of Sonia. She has lied to us the entire time, Ursula! Eliwood, Lyndis, and Hector are good people and I know that their cause is just. Also, why do you seek to assassinate Prince Zephiel? The prince is but a young boy! The Fang once stood for justice and for the good of the people. What good can come from Zephiel's murder?"

"And what of your father?" Ursula sneered. "He would be ashamed that one of his own sons would dare to betray everything he stood for."

Lloyd felt a wave of anger rise through him that he only barely managed to suppress. "Sonia's plans are not my father's, Ursula. Once he listens to the truth from his own son, he will see reason and cast that immoral woman from power. I will make it my mission to lay her treachery and lies bare!"

Lloyd sighed before finishing, "And if that were not proof enough, Ursula, then listen to this. Sonia's friend Limstella tried to kill me less than a week ago. I would be dead had it not been for the healing hand of our Tactician and the care of the three lords. I choose to side with them. You see how Jaffar and Nino have turned as well. It's not too late for you!" Lloyd beseeched her. "See reason! Join us in the fight against Nergal and Sonia! Help us restore what the Fang once was, the Fang that my father created!"

A shadow of fury crossed over Ursula's face. "I will not believe your lies!"

Lloyd saddened upon hearing her refusal. He had known in his heart that Ursula would follow through her mission to the end, but he could not refuse her the same chance that Jaffar and Nino had both accepted. But now that she had rejected it, there was no avoiding it: it was time to fight.

Ursula, in one last desperate attempt, hurled her final Bolting use at Prince Zephiel from afar. However, Priscilla had erected a magical barrier around the Prince, and Zephiel only suffered minor injury which he healed off with an Elixir. The Bolting tome burned itself to ashes with its final use, and Ursula whipped out her Elfire tome. She began chanting and aimed her fireball at Lloyd. The White Wolf dodged, when Jaffar suddenly approached Ursula.

The rogue Valkyrie hissed, "You are a fool, Jaffar. Our masters are perfect! Why would you abandon such perfection in favor of these imbeciles?" Jaffar made no reply, but suddenly lunged for Ursula. The blade connected and Ursula gasped in pain, but she wasn't done yet. She cast Elfire again; this time, the fireball connected. Jaffar was knocked backward by a pillar of flame. Ursula would never be able to cast another spell, however, for Hector barreled toward the Valkyrie with his Wolf Beil. The mighty axe lord felled the Blue Crow and knocked her off her horse in one powerful swing.

"Urrgh…gah…It can't be…Lady…Sonia…" Ursula gasped her final words as she died.

Priscilla galloped toward them, healing Jaffar once she got to their location. Lloyd shook his head sadly at Ursula's corpse, before turning away, taking Nino by the hand back towards the entrance of the Prince's manse. At the same time, the lights came back on, and Bernese soldiers rushed to the Prince's aid and cleared out any of the remaining Black Fang. Fortunately, in their haste, they didn't notice Jaffar or Lloyd.

"Jaffar!" Nino cried. "I'm so glad you're safe!"

"…why do you not kill me?" he asked Eliwood.

"Because you didn't take the Prince's life, so we won't take yours. It's that simple," Lyndis responded.

"So naïve…do you know how many of your friends I've killed?"

Hector raised his Wolf Beil at Jaffar. "You monster!" he roared. "I'll…"

"Lord Hector!" Lloyd snapped, stepping between him and Jaffar. "I think tonight is more than enough proof that the Angel of Death is not the man he used to be. What justice is there if you strike him down now?"

"Bah!" was the lord's only response, but all the same he lowered his axe.

"Now, then," said Eliwood after a brief and awkward silence, "if you've come to truly repent the evil actions you've done in the past, then come and fight with us."

"…for Nino's sake, I will do it." Nino cheered and gave Jaffar a hug. Again, Lloyd wondered since when had Jaffar and Nino gotten that close.

"Right, then," Dusk said. "I believe it's time we have an audience with Queen Hellene."

Dusk, Lyndis, Hector, and Eliwood all went up the manse further to meet with the Queen. In the meantime, Lloyd and Nino updated each other on everything that had happened.

"You want to see Sonia?" Lloyd questioned, confused.

"Yes…earlier, Ursula called me a brat and told me that Sonia had wanted Jaffar to kill me. I asked Jaffar about it but he won't answer whether she actually said that or not. I want to talk to Mother myself."

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea…." Lloyd countered, worried. "If she really did give that order, she could just kill you herself, especially since you refused to assassinate the Prince."

"I need to know, Lloyd. I need to find the truth from Mother."

Lloyd thought for several seconds. Finally, he sighed, "All right, Nino. If that's what you truly want, then I won't stop you. But I absolutely will NOT let you go alone. It'll be you, me, and Jaffar at the very least. As it turns out, I need to speak with Father anyway and tell him about Sonia's treachery."

Nino hugged her stepbrother, "Thanks, Lloyd!"

Lloyd ruffled her hair and gave her a warm smile. Inwardly, however, he was worried about what would happen when he finally encountered Sonia, not as her subordinate, but as her enemy.

/

As Eliwood's army departed, Limstella silently approached the fallen body of Ursula.

"Ursula…" the morph spoke softly, "beyond hearing so soon? Your quintessence is quite excellent….Lord Nergal will be pleased." There was no Dusk, no powerful druid to stop her this time. The morph began to draw Ursula's quintessence from her lifeless corpse, a quintessence that would be used for the glory of her master.

/

To all you Ursula fans, I'm so sorry I killed her! If it's any consolation I think she's superior to that fail Vaida in every single way! But I wanted to remain at least somewhat faithful to the main storyline, and given Ursula's characterization she seemed too loyal to Sonia and the ways of the new Fang under Nergal to switch loyalties, and there is no evidence officially supporting a potential Lloyd x Ursula pairing. I know some people might hate me for this, but I do apologize.

Keep reading and reviewing :D


	7. Chapter 7 - The Wolf Unleashed

A/N: Nino, Jaffar, and Lloyd head off to confront Sonia. Their quest, however, is about to take a twisted and horrifying turn…that's all I'll say.

Chapter 7 – The Wolf Unleashed

Dusk watched Lloyd, Nino, and Jaffar leave camp with some misgivings. He immediately called Eliwood, Hector and Lyndis, and together they started to follow the three former Black Fang members. Meanwhile, the three former Black Fang members were getting closer to the water temple.

"I still don't like this idea," Lloyd commented, concern in his voice. "If that woman really did have Jaffar try to murder you…"

"Do you know where Sonia is? You know that sentiment will not save you from that woman," Jaffar added.

"I have to try, guys. Since the ice fortress has been discovered, she'll be at the water temple, I'm sure of it!" Nino pleaded.

"…okay," Lloyd finally gave in. "Let's go."

As the three moved onward, Dusk turned to look at the three lords.

"Do you think they intend to betray us?" asked Hector suspiciously.

"Very unlikely, considering the fact that they let us kill Ursula without any retribution whatsoever," Dusk replied. "Besides, Lloyd has already proven his loyalty twice now, and I do not believe Nino would betray us. It just doesn't fit with her character. I personally believe that they are going to confront Sonia for answers."

"We need to follow them," said Lyndis worriedly. "They might be going to their deaths."

"I have that feeling as well," affirmed Dusk. "We need to move quickly!"

As Lloyd entered the water temple alongside Nino and Jaffar, he could hear voices coming from within the depths of the temple. As they reached the temple floor, however, he saw Uncle Jan rushing towards them, terror in his eyes.

"Uncle Jan! Wh-what's happened?" Lloyd asked in shock and fear. He had never seen Jan this terrified.

"That-that unholy woman's killed…k-killed…"

"Oh, Elimine…" Lloyd gasped in horror as he realized what Jan was trying to say. Sonia had killed his father, and he had arrived too late to stop her.

"Oh, Jan? What was that you were trying to say about me?"

Sonia appeared before them. Jan gave out a cry of terror and fled. Lloyd knew why; he didn't like to fight and compared to the rest of the family he wasn't very skilled at it. If Sonia could kill someone as powerful as Brendan, then Jan stood no chance.

Hatred roiled within Lloyd at the sight of her. "You inhuman wretch!" he roared, "You murdered my father in cold blood! I will avenge my father and see your corpse rotting from the battlements!"

Sonia sneered. "Oh, I've done more than that, Lloyd Reed. I only married your father so that I could hand Nergal control of the Black Fang. He was a fool who never saw what was coming. You were smarter, but you just couldn't convince Brendan. And now that he is dead, I am in control of the Fang! Many of us do not serve the Fang; rather, they serve Master Nergal himself! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

The deluded morph turned to Nino, "And that's not all I've done! I remember when I killed your entire family Nino! They had the secret to dragons that Master Nergal wanted, so he sent me to kill them. I dressed myself as a beggar and your parents just couldn't refuse somewhat so desolate. Such foolishness. They learned to regret their compassion, but it was too late!"

Nino burst into tears. Jaffar moved to her side, eyes shooting death at Sonia.

"Of course, Master Nergal said you came from a powerful magical lineage, so he told me to take you in. To this day I don't know why. You've been nothing but useless, a complete nuisance! And now that you're all here, I can destroy you all and claim your quintessence for master Nergal!"

Lloyd had never felt such wrath and loathing inside him before. He was about to throw caution to the winds and lunge at Sonia right there and then when Eliwood's army burst through the entrance. All four of them turned at them in surprise before Sonia gave another loud cackle. "And look at this! More quintessence for my master! I will see you all die in my fortress, one at a time!" With that, she moved quickly to the throne where Brendan Reed had once sat. "Kill them all!" she ordered the Black Fang members within.

Lloyd turned to Dusk and the three Lords. Lyndis, Hector, and Eliwood all recoiled at the terrifying look on Lloyd's face. Even Dusk could not hide a slight hint of fear at this sudden transformation. "Dusk," Lloyd snarled, "I don't care what happens before we confront Sonia, but I WILL be the one to cut her down. Don't try to stop me or you will regret it."

Dusk could only nod. Such rage could only come from the anguish of losing a loved one.

"Sonia killed your father, didn't she?" he asked sympathetically. Lloyd said nothing, but the hatred and grief in his eyes seemed to intensify even more. That was all the answer that Dusk needed.

Turning away from Lloyd, Dusk gave the order to prepare for battle.

This fight was nothing like anything that Eliwood's army had faced before. The Black Fang's most powerful soldiers took up residence in the water temple, and these were the forces that Eliwood's army now had to face. Even though they cut some enemies down, more seemed to surge from unknown rooms to replace the fallen.

It wasn't just the enemies themselves that were the challenge. The bishops and sages had come equipped with powerful Bolting tomes, Berserk staves, and sleep staves. Some snipers had already mounted Ballista and were firing arrows upon them. Things almost took a turn for the worse when Dart got berserked by a bishop and Lucius had been dangerously close by.

"Lucius, watch out!" Raven yelled. "Dart's been berserked and he's coming right for you!"

"It's all right, Lord Raym…Raven," Lucius answered calmly. He held out a Restore Staff and cured Dart of his affliction. Although Dart was confused at first, he quickly regained his bearings and sanity.

"I'll take that!" taunted Legault as he stole an Angelic Robe from the bishop. The bishop tried to react with a Divine spell, but could only scream as Jaffar cut him to pieces.

Their close call was followed by another shocking development when Lloyd found himself cut off from the rest of the army by a disappearing walkway and surrounded by enemies. It turned out very badly…for his enemies, that is. Fueled by his ferocious hatred, Lloyd struck with such rage, speed, and power that he was cutting down ten times as many enemies left and right. Nothing could touch him; he had become a true whirlwind of death. Those who were not occupied with Black Fang forces watched him with a mixture of wonder, terror, and amazement.

"Lucius?" Dusk asked.

"Yes, Dusk?" the bishop turned to Dusk.

"When the bridge reforms, I want you to check with your Restore staff to make sure Lloyd somehow didn't get berserked."

"With all due respect, I don't recall the other bishop casting that spell on Lloyd…"

"The way he's fighting right now, I think I'd rather face Ephidel and Limstella together than Lloyd in this state," Dusk replied with a grim humor as he and Lucius watched the White Wolf tear the Black Fang to pieces.

Though they were powerful, the Black Fang forces had made a critical mistake in sending their forces in only small pieces at a time. Dusk took full advantage of this error by having his forces destroy the Black Fang's soldiers before they could group up and become a much bigger threat. He also instructed Canas to use an Eclipse tome, one that Legault had found hidden in the sands of the Nabata desert, to weaken the more powerful Black Fang soldiers. Eliwood's army cut down each contingent one at a time until, finally, only the two Wyvern riders guarding Sonia were left. Heath stabbed one in the heart with a Killer lance and Nino struck down the other one with Thunder.

"Everyone, back off from Sonia's throne!" Dusk instructed. "Lloyd has requested to be the one to kill Sonia. He has expressed wishes that this is his fight and his fight alone."

Judging by the murderous look on Lloyd's face, everyone could tell that this was much more than just a simple request. Nobody, not even Jaffar or Hector, questioned Dusk's order. The swordmaster took up his Killing Edge and approached Sonia, more than ready to fight her.

"For too long, you have exploited the justice of the Black Fang to your own twisted ends, Sonia," Lloyd shouted. "Now, I will bring its wrath down upon your head!"

"Imbecile! You have no idea of the power of Lord Nergal! You're just like your pathetic excuse of a father. I enjoyed every minute of draining the life from his worthless corpse."

"You're a dead woman!" snarled Lloyd. He lunged at Sonia, eager to exact the same violence that she had inflicted upon his father.

Sonia began chanting from an icy blue book that Lloyd recognized was a Fimbulvetr tome. Lloyd knew he had to stop Sonia before he could complete the spell. Unfortunately, he was just a little bit too late. He was fast enough to slash Sonia across the chest, causing her to howl in pain, but she had already completely her spell. The White Wolf suddenly found himself blasted by an icy blizzard across the floor. "If I get hit by another one like that I'm finished," Lloyd thought.

Sonia cackled, "You see! I am the ideal human! Selected by Lord Nergal himself! Only humans as perfect as me will see the glory of the new world!"

"Perfect? You're a monster in human clothing!" hissed Lloyd. However, the attack forced him to cool his rage into a cold, calculating anger. That Fimbulvetr blast had reminded him of a valuable lesson that he couldn't afford to ever forget. Rage could empower a warrior, but it could also doom him. If he let his anger control him he stood no chance against the cold might of Sonia. Tempting as it was to give in to his fury, it was time to let his rage empower his blade and use his mind to cut Sonia down from his father's throne.

Sonia began chanting from her Fimbulvetr tome again. Lloyd carefully examined Sonia's actions, measuring where she would cast her spell. The witch was too clever to directly target Lloyd, for the swordmaster could dodge that easily. Lloyd saw her hand twitch to the left and knew that his former stepmother was planning to attack in that angle. As Sonia finished her spell Lloyd leapt to the right.

He had calculated it perfectly. The spell blasted uselessly to Lloyd's left as he prepared his most lethal technique. Sonia could only gaze in astonishment and horror as Lloyd repeatedly slashed his stepmother until he had reduced her to little more than a bloody mess.

"It…can't be…I'm…perfect…Lord….Nergal…said…so…" moaned Sonia as she collapsed from the throne.

His bloodlust finally subsiding, Lloyd picked up something that Sonia had in her robes. A Fell Contract. "Legault or that other thief Matthew could use this," he mused, as he turned around to see the rest of his allies catch up to him. It was then that he saw his father, sprawled out to the side of the throne where Sonia had killed him.

Nino dropped to her knees, inconsolably weeping at the death of her beloved stepfather. Lloyd knelt down to give her a hug, and Legault put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Jaffar said nothing, but his eyes were now filled with…guilt? Sympathy?

"Dusk, can you give us some time to mourn for my father?" Lloyd requested, tears in his eyes. The anger in him had been replaced by a gnawing sorrow. He couldn't hold it back for much longer, but he wanted to do it privately with only his fellow Black Fang around him.

"Of course, Lloyd. Take as much time as you need. Everyone! Start searching the rest of the temple for enemies! Let's give these three some breathing room."

As the rest of the army began carrying out Dusk's orders, the four remaining Black Fang members mourned their fallen commander together.

/

A/N: And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why you never want to be facing an extremely pissed Lloyd Reed. Unless you want to get thoroughly, completely, utterly owned. In fact, you'd probably stand a better chance against Vaida with the Uber Spear.

Anyway, apart from the sheer badass-ness of Lloyd and that one moment between Lucius and Dusk, I thought this chapter was pretty serious and sad. Let's have a moment of silence for Brendan Reed, and let's also have an hour of rejoicing and partying in light of Sonia's death (I f***ing hate her, she's the b*tchiest character in FE7).

Don't forget to read and review!


	8. Chapter 8 - Memories

A/N: A short chapter about the conversation between Jan, Nino, and Lloyd. Enjoy!

Chapter 8 – Memories

As Eliwood and the rest of his army left the water temple, they gave Lloyd, Nino, and Jaffar time to say their final good-byes (although Jaffar was more or less just there to accompany Nino). After Sonia had been killed, Uncle Jan reappeared to the delight of both Lloyd and Nino.

"Nephew! Dear little Nino! You've won against that horrid fiend!" Jan cried out joyfully, hugging the two of them.

"Uncle! I'm glad to see that you survived all of that," replied Lloyd with a smile in his face.

Jan's smile faded slightly. "When that woman killed the commander, I didn't fight. I just ran away. I-I'm just a cowardly old man."

"No, you're not, uncle," Lloyd countered. "You were never meant to be a fighter. Sonia nearly killed me and it was only because of quick reflexes that I won out in the end. If you'd stayed and tried to fight you would've ended up dead."

Nino looked at Jan. "The Black Fang…it was fun…Nergal and mo-, I mean Sonia, ruined it, but…"

"…so you finally figured out the truth?"

The girl nodded. "In that case…it's time that I give you this."

Jan produced from his jacket pocket a pendant and handed it to Nino. "This belonged to your old family, Nino. The Commander…he never fully trusted Sonia."

Lloyd raised an eyebrow at the news. He had always assumed that his father had fallen completely head-over-heels in love with Sonia by the way he never listened to anybody else. But perhapse he wasn't so fooled after all…

"The commander made contact with a maid who worked in the house where you used to live, Nino. The maid had seen everything that Sonia did your poor family, but when she found out that you were alive and well she cried for joy. She wanted me to have this and told me to give it to you one day. In remembrance of your family. May they rest in peace."

Nino held the pendant in her shaking hand, and suddenly burst uncontrollably into tears. She just couldn't hold in all of the emotions that had come with this last keepsake of her family. Lloyd knelt down and wrapped her in a tight hug.

"Are you all right, Nino?" The girl nodded tearfully. "It's just...I feel...so sad…and so happy at the same time…I can't…I don't…"

"Nino…you're part of our family now," Lloyd told her gently. "Never forget that. Me, Linus, Legault, even Jaffar, we'll watch over you. We'll make sure that nothing ever happens to you. Through all of us, the Fang as it used to be will live on. I swear it."

Lyn watched them from a distance, a smile and a tear in her eyes. Whatever had happened to Nino in the past, there were people who loved her and watched over her. It was a marvel that she had turned out as innocent and kindhearted as she had, considering the witch who had until only recently been her mother.

"Have you said all your good-byes, Nino?"

"Yes…thank you all. You all came here with me and showed me that we're friends…it made me happy," Nino replied, smiling despite the tears in her eyes. She and Lyndis turned to regroup with the rest of the army.

Hector, in the meantime, was sizing up Jaffar. It had become clear to him that he genuinely cared for Nino; however, he wasn't convinced yet that the Angel of Death had suddenly changed from the heartless murder he had used to be. "I want to let you know that I don't trust you. If Eliwood says that you're one of us, then that's that. I won't challenge his decision."

Lloyd walked up to Hector, annoyance clear on his face. "Lord Hector, with all due respect, why do you still doubt Jaffar's loyalties? I was exposed when I was battling Sonia. When she knocked me down with her Fimbulvetr spell, Jaffar could have used that to Nergal's advantage and ended my life. I think that Nino changed his life and his soul, and that he can yet be redeemed."

"Maybe he has changed and maybe he hasn't. But I will tell him this," Hector turned to Jaffar, a hard look on his face. "You will NOT betray Eliwood. If you do anything remotely suspicious…"

"I will vouch for the Angel of Death's loyalty," Lloyd interrupted. "If he betrays us in the end, I will cut him down myself. This I swear."

Hector muttered something under his breath, but didn't push the matter further. As he walked away, Lloyd wondered exactly what kind of grudge the Ostians had against Jaffar that made them so unwilling to trust the Angel of Death.

A/N: Short chapter, I know. Oh well. More coming soon!


	9. Chapter 9 - Dark Plans

A/N: Hey guys! Here's a chapter very different from the ones I wrote before. This one's about Limstella and Nergal! Read on!

Chapter 9 – Dark Plans

Limstella approached the final platform of the Dragon's Gate. Just beyond the steps, the mighty gate lay closed and black, forbidding any from entering the void. In front of it, Nergal waited for his most powerful morph's latest progress update.

"Ah, Limstella…" Nergal greeted her, smiling. "How goes your mission to gather quintessence?"

"It goes well, master," the morph replied emotionlessly. "As you ordered, I have gathered the quintessence of the most powerful members of the Black Fang. I now present to you the quintessence of Brendan Reed, Marquess Laus, Uhai, and Ursula. I have also paid a visit back in the Black Fang fortress in the mountains, and have collected the quintessence of Kenneth and Jerme."

Nergal reached out toward Limstella. His hand glowed, and the quintessence flowed from Limstella towards him. He closed his eye and sighed appreciatively. "Ah, yes…this is quite excellent. I can already feel the power growing within me. And I have other plans for them…imagine the terror and despair those fools will feel when they must battle their enemies once more…even stronger than before! But there is one thing that concerns me…"

Nergal opened his eye again. "What of Lloyd Reed, the White Wolf? His quintessence is as powerful as, if not more than, any of the ones that you have gathered here so far."

"My apologies, Lord Nergal…I was unable to gather the quintessence of the White Wolf."

"And just why is that?" Nergal's tone suddenly turned icy.

"There is a powerful druid in Eliwood's army. When I attempted to take Lloyd's life and quintessence, the druid intervened. He was not a mere conjurer or shaman, for he had mastery over powerful dark spells such as Luna and Fenrir. If I had attempted to extract Lloyd's quintessence right there, he would have destroyed me. Also, Sonia has just been killed, master."

"A druid? Interesting. I am actually quite curious to see just how powerful this druid really is. If he could truly master such powerful dark magic as Fenrir, I doubt that he will fall easily even if faced with multiple forces at once…after all, I am such an example of dark power," he smiled proudly. "And as for Sonia…pfah! She is but a failed work. You…my dear Limstella…are my perfect creation. However, a perfect creation cannot be tainted with the stains of failure. These stains must be erased. For that reason, I order you to search for other quintessence to compensate for the White Wolf's."

Limstella bowed and left the room. Although Lloyd Reed's quintessence was beyond reach, there were still quite a few powerful Black Fang members who had been slain when Eliwood's army had first visited the Dread Isle. And there had also been that recent war in Caelin. Yes, she would go and find quintessence to make up for her failure with the White Wolf. After all, she existed only to carry out her master's bidding.

A/N: Another short chapter, but it does offer some hints at the future. See if you can figure them out yourself. Read and review please!


	10. Chapter 10 - A Chance Encounter

A/N: Hey guys! I present to you…the potential Lloyd x ? pairing! I truly think that this is the person that Lloyd would most likely have a romantic relationship with if they ever made it to A Support. Tell me what you guys think!

Chapter 10 – A Chance Encounter

Lloyd marched alongside the rest of Eliwood's army as they made their way to the Shrine of Seals. He had gotten to know quite a few people. He met with Kent and Sain and talked with them about Caelin, had an interesting conversation with Lucius over redemption and faith, and had also spoken with Pent and Louise about Etruria and the tension in Bern. Lloyd had also started to engage in sparring with the two other swordfighters in the army, Guy and Raven, much more frequently. They both had lots of potential and he knew they would become deadly once fully trained. Of course, he didn't neglect to check up on Nino and Legault. He was relieved to see that Nino was as bubbly and as happy as ever, for he had been afraid that she would be scarred and depressed after hearing the truth about her family.

He was on his way to find Guy and have another duel when he accidentally bumped into a Pegasus knight with light blue hair. "Oh, excuse me, I'm sorry," Lloyd spluttered, embarrassed.

"It's all right. You're Lloyd, right? The White Wolf?"

"That's correct. I am, or rather was, the White Wolf of the Four Fangs. I don't know your name, though, I'm sorry."

"My name's Fiora. I'm an Ilian mercenary in this army. I know all about you and why you're in our army, Lloyd. Our Tactician is…quite something, isn't he?"

Lloyd smiled. "Indeed he is. I don't think I've ever seen someone so powerful, except maybe Nergal. And yet he doesn't let that power affect who he is. He saved my life and stopped me from going down the wrong path. But why did you join?"

Fiora sighed and closed her eyes. "It's a painful memory for me," she replied. "I was part of the 5th Wing group of Ilian mercenaries. We had been hired by Lord Pent to investigate the Dread Isle. It was a disaster…of the division, only I survived. I was going to complete my mission all by myself before Eliwood and my sister Florina convinced me to join. The deaths of my comrades…it's all my fault…"

Lloyd shook his head. "You couldn't have possibly known what Nergal was planning. Don't let yourself fall into false guilt like that. The best thing that you can do now is to help bring an end to his madness and cruelty."

Fiora gave him a sad smile. "I'm sorry, Lloyd, but you don't quite understand. As commander of my division, I am responsible for the lives of the Pegasus knights in my charge. They got killed under my leadership…as a leader I failed them. Their deaths are on my head…" tears formed in her eyes as she said this.

"If anything, I was even worse," Lloyd replied gloomily. "For this past year, I have served the forces of evil and followed Sonia's orders without question, never once doubting the morality of what I was doing. The Fang in the past was nothing like what it has become now. All my family ever wanted was to protect the people of Bern from the wicked nobles who were destroying the kingdom from within. But now…we have become nothing more than a band of sellswords and murderers…all thanks to Nergal. I will see him brought to justice and destroyed, by my own hand if possible."

Fiora didn't respond for several moments. "I believe…" she finally began, "joining Eliwood's army is our chance to make things right. To correct the wrongs we've done and the mistakes we've made. I will seize this opportunity with open arms, and something tells me that you are ready to do the same."

"Fiora!" a shy voice called out.

"Coming, Florina!" Fiora responded cheerfully. She turned to face Lloyd. "I'm sorry, I have to go attend to my sister." With that, Fiora turned to face her younger sister and walked away.

Lloyd watched her go, thinking about what she had said. The two really did have a lot in common. They both believed they had committed great wrongs (although unlike him, she had merely fallen victim to unfortunate circumstances) and, for him recently, had found solace in Eliwood's army. There was something about her that made him want to get to know her a bit more. It would be nice to have a close friend outside of the ones in the Black Fang; he got along well with Dusk and the lords were always busy.

"Lloyd? Who was that?" a voice chirped behind him.

Lloyd turned to see Nino grinning slyly at him. "She seemed nice enough. And pretty. Is she your new girlfri-"

"NO, Nino," Lloyd responded a little roughly, "nothing like that. Just making a new friend in the army."

"Oh, okay," Nino cheerfully said, although the look in her eyes told Lloyd that she didn't entirely believe him. Why did she think such an outrageous idea?

At that moment, Dusk appeared before them. His face looked grim and told Lloyd that something was horribly, horribly wrong.

"I have good news and bad news," the Tactician informed them. "The good news is that we have arrived at the Shrine of Seals. The bad news is that it's crawling with Black Fang."

"What?" Lloyd asked, shocked. "They shouldn't even know about us coming!"

"It gets worse, Lloyd. I sent Legault to investigate our enemies beforehand. The enemy Commander…is your brother Linus."

A/N: DUN DUN DUN! You guys knew that Cog of Destiny was going to show up eventually! But what will happen? Find out next chapter!

Read and review please!


	11. Chapter 11 - The Fang Reborn

A/N: Cog of Destiny time! That is all.

Chapter 11 – The Fang Reborn

"NO!" shrieked Nino. "That can't be right! Lloyd is alive! Lloyd is here! Why is Linus…"

"He must have seen something back in the valley that must have convinced him that you were dead. And that we killed him."

Lloyd had been absentmindedly trying to finger his special Reed pendant when suddenly…"FLUX!" he shouted. "My pendant! It's gone!"

"Your…pendant?" Dusk asked, clearly not .

"It was a pendant given to me by my father when Linus and I were very young. They were our most valuable possessions. I can't believe I left mine back at the valley. Linus must have seen it somewhere, and…"

"…assumed the worst. I do recall that there was also a huge pool of your blood, but I was too busy healing you to pay much attention to it."

"I need to talk to my brother, Dusk. Once he sees that I'm alive and well he'll realize his mistake."

Dusk held up his hand. "As much as I want to reunite you two as quickly as possible, we need to make sure that the Black Fang forces under his command are in fact loyal to the Reeds, not to Nergal. Otherwise, they could kill you and we won't be able to prove to Linus that we are not your murderers. I will try to negotiate with Linus first, but if we must fight then we must do so until your brother realizes his mistake."

With that, the Tactician teleported to the Shrine of Seals' entrance. He was greeted by many hostile glares from Black Fang members and a particularly fierce look from Linus Reed himself.

"What are you doing here?" spat the Rabid Hound. "We know who you are. Your masters brutally murdered my brother! I saw the pool of blood back in that valley and the pendant that belonged to him! Why shouldn't I order my armies to cut you down where you stand?"

"For starters," answered Dusk coolly, "I could easily destroy most of your forces with nothing more than two Flux tomes. However, you will be glad to hear the news that I have to bring you."

"As if that was possible!" growled Linus. "It amuses me that I have not struck you down already. Give us your message and leave, and let your friends know that I will show them the vengeance of Lloyd's wake, destruction as they have never known!"

"That's just it, Linus. Your brother is alive. And he is coming here now."

The rest of the Black Fang captains surrounding Linus began muttering amongst themselves. "What?" Linus demanded, although much more softly than seconds before. "What did you just say?"

"Your brother was nearly killed, that is true, but not by our hand. One of Sonia's…friends, shall we say…attempted to murder him after he surrendered to our forces in the valley. I was there to stop her, and restored Lloyd to health. He has seen the truth that was covered behind Nergal's lies, and now marches with our forces."

"…" Linus said nothing for several moments. He paced back and forth across the Shrine. Finally, he turned back to Dusk.

"Unless I see my brother standing before me with my own eyes, I will not believe you! If Lloyd truly is alive, then show him to me and prove the integrity of your words!"

Dusk sighed. This hadn't been the best-case scenario by far, but it wasn't the worst that could've happened either. "Very well, then. We prepare for battle. I had hoped that it would not come to this, but I see that you will not be swayed. But know this, Linus Reed: I speak the truth about your brother, and I will show him before you as you have requested. Even if I must fight a battle to do so." And with that, Dusk teleported back to his army.

"What did Linus say?" asked Lloyd when Dusk reappeared.

"He said that he will not believe that we are innocent of your death until he sees you standing before him alive and well," Dusk reported.

"That stubborn fool," muttered Lloyd. "This doesn't surprise me at all. He was always the brash one."

"Sounds like Hector," Lyn joked. Hector gave her a dirty look.

"Enough, you two!" Eliwood intervened. "We have a battle that we have to fight."

"Indeed," Dusk added. "I will be sending every member of the Black Fang that has joined our army into this battle."

"WHAT?" Lloyd exploded. "Surely you're not planning on sending Nino into this! She's just a kid!"

"Although it disgusts me to even mention Sonia's name, she was correct in stating that Nino comes from a powerful magical family," Dusk contested. "I sense that, if she were to be trained, she could become one of the most powerful mages in Elibe, with power rivaling or even exceeding Lord Pent's. However, the only way she can be trained to reach this status is through experiencing battle. As the closest thing she has to a family, I want you, Legault, and Jaffar to protect her at all costs while she attacks with magic from a distance. I will have Canas and Priscilla heal you with Physic in case you run into trouble."

"I don't like this," muttered Lloyd, but he knew better than to argue with the Tactician.

"It's okay, Lloyd," Nino replied determinedly. "I want to get stronger. I don't want to let them down."

Lloyd sighed. "All right, Nino, but make sure you stay close to me and Jaffar!"

"Time for our battle plan!" Dusk announced. "Lloyd, Nino, Jaffar, Raven, and Fiora are going to head west, towards the group of myrmidons, Heroes, and mercenaries. There are ballistas and snipers, but Fiora has a Delphi shield so I doubt they'll be serious threats. Try to let Nino finish off the enemies so that she gets more experience with her magic. I will also send Merlinus with you. In the meantime, Hector, Priscilla, and Oswin will face off against the knights, Generals, and Paladins. Finally, Lyn and Canas will head off to the right to face off against the Nomads. Priscilla and Canas will be there to cast magic and heal any injured units. Eliwood and I will remain back here and take care of any enemy reinforcements that might come. We will regroup before we approach the shrine and show Linus that his brother is alive. Do NOT approach him by yourself or try to attack him, as he will likely try to kill you without mercy. The point is to get him to our side, not to antagonize him. May Elimine grant us success!"

/

As the Black Fang members approached Eliwood's army, three myrmidons went ahead of them. They called out: "You are Eliwood of Pherae, correct?"

Eliwood was quick to reply, "And if I am?"

The myrmidon at the head of the group announced, "We are here to deliver the Fang's justice on behalf of…" his voice trailed off as he realized who was standing next to him.

"L-Lord Lloyd?" he gasped. "You're alive?"

"That is correct. I was saved from death by the Tactician in Eliwood's army, and now willingly fight at his side. I order you to put down your weapons and let us through. Sonia murdered my father but I saw to her end as well. As such, I am the new commander of the Black Fang. Allow us to pass."

"Of-of course!" the myrmidon agreed. However, he was suddenly stabbed in the back by another myrmidon behind him. As the first fell, he sneered to Lloyd, "You are not our commander. The services of the Black Fang belong only to Lord Nergal. I will make sure you never reunite with your broth-GAAAAH!"

Lloyd killed the myrmidon midsentence in one swift stroke. "Maybe you should actually kill someone next time rather than talking about it." He turned to the final myrmidon, and recognized him as Linus's lieutenant Igor. "Who do you fight for, Igor? Do you serve the Reed family or Nergal?"

Igor stuttered, "I myself serve only you and Linus, Lord Lloyd. However…our division is divided. About half of us were part of the Old Fang from the start, but the other half is on Nergal's side."

"Can you try to deliver a message to Linus that I am here? He will be more likely to believe someone from within the Fang."

"I am…not sure that is such a good idea, Lord Lloyd. If Nergal's minions know what I am doing, they will cut me down before my message ever gets to Lord Linus. As for Lord Linus himself, he may not believe me, and even if he does, Nergal's minions may seek to ambush him once they discover what he has learned."

"In that case," replied Lloyd, "I want you to leave the battle and send a report to the Fang winter fortress that Sonia has murdered my father and that he has been avenged by my hand. I also want you to gather the… special items…and bring them to me. Here is a code that proves the veracity of my message."

The myrmidon nodded and rushed off to carry out Lloyd's orders.

"It appears," Lloyd sighed, "that we will have a long and hard road ahead of us."

"Indeed," Dusk muttered. "I have more to add to my instructions," he announced. "Do not forget that the enemy may contain Nergal's servants as well as loyal Black Fang. Assume that everyone you face is an enemy unless Lloyd can personally vouch for their loyalty. Otherwise, we may end up being backstabbed by one who falsely claims to be on our side. Is that understood?"

/

For the members of Eliwood's army that were NOT with Lloyd, the battle was very straightforward. Hector and Oswin used their hammers to brutally tear apart any knights and generals that attempted to stop their progress, while Priscilla incinerated them with Elfire and Thunder. Lyn, having fully mastered the sword, used her Killer Bow to strike penetrating and deadly wounds into the nomads, while Canas sapped their life force away with the deadly Nosferatu. Though their enemies were numerous, it was clear that quality far overshadowed quantity in this fight.

Lloyd and his companions, in the meantime, soon discovered that they were not alone. Some of the Black Fang, who had initially run forward to meet them in battle, had quickly recognized Lloyd. Realizing that Dusk had indeed told the truth about their captain's survival, they immediately lowered their weapons and reaffirmed their allegiance to the Reeds. However, those of the Black Fang loyal to Nergal launched themselves at Lloyd, seeking to break this great threat to their master's control of the Fang.

Lloyd readied his blade to battle, but even weaponless he would have been completely safe. Jaffar whipped out his knives and raced across the battlefield, slitting the throats of Nergal's servants with one quick slash. Lloyd's new soldiers redrew their weapons and turned against their former comrades, devoting their entire efforts to protecting their true captain. Nino rained down Fire and Thunder upon her enemies to finish off those that had been wounded by Lloyd's warriors, Raven similarly slamming his sword and axe into many faces. What had started out as 5 against many had become a battle between two small armies.

"Lloyd!" Nino cried out, "Behind you!"

Lloyd turned to see a huge warrior running at him. He could immediately see that he was carrying a Swordslayer. "Not good…" he muttered as he prepared to dodge. Swordslayers were a special type of axe that, unlike most axes, were designed to easily defeat sword users such as himself. Just as he was about to dodge, a short spear flew through the air and impaled the fighter in the heart. He dropped his axe and collapsed onto the ground.

"Who…" Lloyd turned to see Fiora flying above him. "Fiora?"

Fiora saluted. "Captain Fiora on duty!"

Lloyd returned the salute. "You should check on Florina. She was flying towards a village, I believe. And watch those ballistas!"

A Hero, one of Lloyd's loyalists, reported: "The snipers controlling the ballista have been slain and we have control."

"Excellent!" Lloyd responded. How many enemies are left on the field?"

"None, sir. The last have already been routed and defeated. And Lord Lloyd…it's an honor to fight alongside you once again!"

Lloyd smiled back. "Good to hear that, soldier!"

/

Linus stared down at the battlefield, his mind filled with confusion. What was going on? He had seen his generals to the south and his nomads to the east get taken down. It was a bad situation, true, but the outcome had at least been a normal one. But to the west…a little war of its own had broken out! Why was the Black Fang fighting each other? He saw the enemy, both of Eliwood's army and his own Black Fang, approaching the Shrine. His face hardened as he drew his Light Brand. Whatever happened, his goal would never change. He would avenge his brother or join him, one way or another. Even if he had to fight Lord Eliwood himself!

Suddenly, he saw Nino run up to the shrine, blasting the two myrmidons next to him with a Thunder spell. He felt rage tear through him again. Nino, his dear stepsister, had sided with the same filth that had murdered his brother!?

"Linus! Stop! Please listen to me!"

"Nino, you traitor!"

"No! Linus! Lloyd is…!"

"I will kill anyone who aids my brother's killers! Nino, that includes you!"

"No! Linus! Wait!"

It was too late; Linus had already raised his Light Brand and hurled a blast of magic towards Nino, who was screaming in terror. Lloyd heard Nino's scream, saw the light blast hurling towards her. Too far away to actually deflect the blast off his sword, he immediately fired a spell from his own Light Brand to intercept the blast. There was a huge explosion as the two spells collided, but fortunately nobody had been significantly injured. Linus snarled and turned to face the one who had blocked his attacked…and dropped his sword in shock.

"L-Lloyd? You…you're…?"

"Yes, Linus! I'm fine! Dusk and Nino told you the truth! I'm still alive!"

"Brother!" Linus cried out, with a joy that Nino had never heard before. He ran from his throne and wrapped his brother in an embrace.

"Oof…Linus…ow…that hurts," Lloyd said, laughing as he struggled to push Linus off him. "Now, would you mind telling me what exactly were you thinking when you SHOT NINO WITH A LIGHT BRAND!" he suddenly yelled furiously.

Linus paled and backed away from his brother, whose expression had turned into one of rage. "You should know better than that, Linus! Why would you target a little girl, for Elimine's sake! Somebody, ANYBODY else would've been a more understandable target!"

"But…I thought…she had…"

"That doesn't matter, Linus! Even if we'd switched places, I NEVER would have attacked Nino, EVER! Now you better apologize to her NOW!"

Linus bowed his head in shame. "I'm sorry, Nino. I don't know what I was thinking, I should never have attacked you like that. Can you ever forgive me?"

Nino giggled and hugged her stepbrother. "It's okay, Linus. But you better join with us! We're part of Eliwood's army now! You, me, Lloyd, Legault, even Jaffar!"

Linus raised an eyebrow. "You mean, Jaffar, the Angel of Death? Jaffar, Nergal's most deadly assassin? Jaffar, the silent one with no emotions?"

Nino grinned. "Yep!"

Linus turned to Lloyd, "Lloyd, what exactly have I missed?"

Lloyd sighed. "It's a long story, Linus, and you're not going to like a lot of it."

Lloyd started with the attack in the Valley, Limstella's ambush, how Dusk had saved him, his subsequent recruitment into Eliwood's army, and the rescue mission for Prince Zephiel. Linus looked horrified when he had learned that Sonia had killed his father, and when he revealed what she had also done to Nino's family there was nothing but pure hatred and disgust on Linus's face.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Linus spat. "Nergal and Sonia are…beyond evil! I only wish I'd been there to see you cut her to pieces. I would've happily helped you."

"We won't have to bother with her again, I saw to that," Lloyd replied. "And now, I need to introduce you to my current superiors."

Lloyd presented Linus to Dusk, Eliwood, Hector, and Lyndis. "This is my brother, Linus. He was the commander of the remains of the Black Fang. However, I told him what happened and he's more than willing to join our side. I can vouch for his loyalty and his good character."

Eliwood reached out a hand to Linus. "Welcome to our army," he responded, "we'd be glad to have you. And after all that the White Wolf has done for us I know we can trust his word."

Linus shook the hand. "I won't rest until I see Nergal destroyed for his crimes. You can count on Lloyd and me sticking around to the end. But what about the rest of the Black Fang?"

Dusk turned to the rest of the Black Fang who had survived the battle. "Listen well, all of you! I am Dusk, a druid and the Tactician in service to Lord Eliwood, Lord Hector, and Lady Lyndis. I know that you reaffirmed your allegiance to our ally Lloyd Reed today in battle. However, there may still be some of Nergal's servants hidden among you. If you are one of Nergal's, leave now. We will not hound you further or hunt you down. However, if you try to lie to us, if you attempt to betray or deceive us, we WILL find out. And when we do," his voice turned menacing, and for a brief moment the sky darkened, "we will show no mercy."

Nobody said anything for several moments. Finally, a few of the Black Fang members who were clearly loyal to Nergal turned and walk away from the Shrine. They would not be seen by any of Eliwood's army ever again.

Lloyd stepped forward to address his restored forces. "All right, men, listen up! You see this Tactician, Dusk? He is the druid who saved me long ago and he is the reason why Linus and I are still alive. You take your orders from him and ONLY him. Even if one of us gives an order to the contrary, Dusk is your true commander on the battlefield. Understand?"

The Black Fang nodded and gave various signs showing they accepted the order.

"Good. Too long has the Black Fang been under the sway of Nergal. In this last year alone, one woman and one depraved freak have turned us from honorable defenders of the people to a ruthless pack of sellswords. That changes now. I will return the Black Fang to the ways of my father, me and Linus both. And of my father, I bring sad news. The Commander was murdered earlier this week."

Murmurs of shock, grief, and horror rippled through his audience. "Do not fear, men, for I have avenged his death in full. However, the man behind this, Nergal, still lives. I will not rest until we have brought him to justice. This is the first step I will take to restoring the morality and reputation of the Black Fang. Will you stand with me once again?"

"Yes, Lord Lloyd!" proclaimed all the members of the Black Fang.

"Then it is done. Oh," he suddenly smiled, "and it's good to be back." The Black Fang cheered at this and dragged both Lloyd and Linus away from the Shrine of Seals.

Lyn laughed as she saw them go. "The Black Fang really was different back then. I don't think they would've done something like that if Sonia was still in control."

"It's a good thing Dusk saved Lloyd back in that valley," Eliwood responded. "I don't want to think what would have happened if he had been left to die."

There was a chilling silence as the three lords pondered this alternate future.

"There is no point in fearing what could have been. Lloyd and Linus have both been saved, and that is all that mattered," Dusk finally spoke. The rest of the lords nodded in agreement.

At that moment, Athos appeared before them.

"Ah, you four have finally arrived! You have done very well in making this far. It is time for you to meet the Enigma."

"Wait!" Hector interrupted. "Couldn't you have just teleported us all here?"

"What would that have proven?" Athos answered calmly. "You needed to demonstrate your own skill. You will never be able to defeat Nergal if you do not face great difficulties yourself."

"True…" Dusk mused.

"Now, let us go see Bramimond. It is time to unlock the Seals." And with that, Athos teleported them all into the Shrine.

/

A/N: Rejoice, for Linus has finally joined! Not only that, but Eliwood's Elite have suddenly gotten a LOT more forces to join them courtesy of the Black Fang! They'll act as scouts and front-line fighters for now.

Read and review please!


	12. Chapter 12 - Bro Talk

A/N: So this short chapter is meant mainly for humor and hints of romance. Lloyd and Linus meet up and talk about…stuff. Yeah…stuff XD

Chapter 12 – Bro Talk

After the brief but rowdy celebration, Lloyd noticed that his leaders had disappeared and, assuming that they had entered the Shrine, immediately told everyone to take a break. Most of the Black Fang decided to sit around and either play cards or, in the case of those with multiple weapons, a game of Swords, Lances, and Axes (A/N: full credit goes to Sardonic Kender Smile for this idea). Nino and Jaffar, meanwhile, were talking to each other. Wait a minute…talking?

"Uh, Linus?" Lloyd suddenly asked in a curious manner.

"Yeah, Lloyd?" Linus replied.

"Does Jaffar strike you as a chummy type of chap who socializes with females?"

"Dear Elimine, what are you, nuts?" Linus burst out laughing. "The day Jaffar says more than one sentence at a time to ANYBODY, let alone to a girl, is the day I give up my sword and axe and become a monk."

"In that case, you better look for the nearest clergy, because take a look at this."

Lloyd motioned to Linus to get a better look at Jaffar and Nino. Linus whistled. "Wow…our dear stepsister accomplished what nobody else in the Black Fang could. Getting Jaffar to actually TALK."

"Oh, it gets better than that," Lloyd replied, a small smile etched across his face. According to Nino, Jaffar actually saved her life. Back when they were going to assassinate Zephiel, Nino convinced Jaffar not to and he later got her out of danger by stalling the Fang's forces. Just think: Jaffar was actually going to sacrifice himself to save Nino."

Linus' eyes widened. "Wow. This is...just wow. You think Jaffar might actually be FALLING for…"

"…I just don't know. After seeing Jaffar siding with Eliwood for Nino's sake, I'd believe just about anything."

"Should we say something to them?"

"Linus, you fool, this is why you couldn't get any girls back in the Black Fang. You can't just rush in and be open about romance. You have to take things more slowly."

"Sheesh, calm down. Although I guess I should listen to you, since you were only the most popular person with the ladies in the entire Black Fang."

"I was the most…wait, what?"

"I'm not kidding, Lloyd. Every single female recruit and captain always kept sending looks of admiration at you behind your back. Even Ursula had an eye on you."

Lloyd winced. "Please don't bring her up. I saw Lord Hector chop her to pieces with extreme prejudice. It was brutal and I don't want to see those images in my mind again."

"Oh, she was killed? I'm sorry, I didn't know," Linus apologized. "But, seriously, you were the dream guy of the Black Fang. Compared to you, I looked absolutely forgettable."

"Don't sell yourself short, Linus, you attracted plenty of females yourself. I saw plenty of them giving you the eye too."

"Mhm…maybe you're right. And speaking of girls, who was that teal-haired Pegasus knight I saw earlier? She seemed very intent on saving your life from that fighter."

"Oh, that's Fiora. She's just a friend. You know how it is; friends look out for each other."

"And how do you know that Fiora didn't save your life for a reason apart from the fact that 'you're just friends'?"

"Geez, Linus, I've only had maybe one meaningful conversation with her. You don't need to assume that there's a budding romance or anything like that."

"Whatever you say…" Linus decided to drop the subject for now, although he still wasn't entirely convinced that Lloyd was telling him the truth. "Although speaking of romances…you notice any special interactions in certain members of this army? You know, friendships that might be just a little more than that?"

"Hmm…now that you mention it, I actually have. Lord Eliwood, for example…he gets along particularly well with Ninian."

"Ninian? Isn't she the girl who…"

"Until recently was one of our primary targets, yes. She's actually a really nice person, not to mention beautiful. And her dances have kept us going when we grew weary. I've often seen Lord Eliwood and Ninian talking privately to each other. Something tells me they've already fallen head-over-heels in love, and I'm happy for them both."

"Oh, really? Interesting...how about the other lords? Like that big blue-haired one?"

"Lord Hector? What about him?"

"You think there could be something between him and that green-haired girl, Lyndis?"

Lloyd snorted. "As if. You haven't been in this army for a while, Linus. I have. There's absolutely NO way that those two could ever be in a romance. Trust me on this one…they argue ALL the time when they're not out killing enemies."

Linus smirked. "Well, I haven't been here for very long, so I can't say. Personally, and this is just on a random whim, but I bet that Hector will end marrying one of those Pegasus knights when this stupid war is said and done. My money's on the small purple-haired one."

Lloyd gasped. "Are you serious? The age gap seems a bit ridiculous, don't you think? And her name's Florina, by the way. As for your bet, I'll wager that Hector will end up with the loud-mouthed blue-haired Pegasus knight, Farina."

Linus grinned. "You're on, Lloyd! Whoever loses the bet has to confess who they love in this army, if anyone. If he fails to provide an answer, he has to give his best weapon to the winner."

Lloyd grinned. "Deal!"

Suddenly, there was a huge flash of light. Lloyd and Linus looked towards the Shrine of Seals, to see Hector, Lyndis, Eliwood, Dusk, and Lord Athos standing before them.

"It is done," Eliwood told the brothers. "The Seals on the Sacred Weapons have been lifted. Now all we need to do is find them before Nergal finds out."

A huge cackle echoed throughout the field. The sky seemed to darken, and both Lloyd and Linus began to feel a dark chill creep over their hearts.

"Too late for that, you fools…" hissed a voice that could only belong to Nergal. "Too late for that…"

A/N: With Nergal still around, the good times can't last forever. I'm sure you all knew that already though. Read and review please!


	13. Chapter 13 - Darkness and Hope

A/N: Oh snap, it's Nergal! This can't be good…

Chapter 13 – Darkness and Hope

The Dark Druid appeared before them, a cruel smile on his face. "At last, I am at full strength once more! I can feel my powers returning. And now it is time to continue what you fools interrupted. Ninian! Nils! Come! Open the Dragon's Gate!"

"N-No! We'll never follow you!" retorted Nils.

"I won't let you harm these children, Nergal!" shouted Lloyd. He and Linus stepped in front of Ninian and Nils. "You've lied to the Black Fang the entire time! Ninian and Nils are innocent children, and YOU, Nergal, are the true villain!"

Nergal sneered. "So, you are Lloyd Reed. I must thank the Black Fang for their services. How does it feel, knowing that Sonia and I have been tearing apart your precious organization for the past year? You have been most useful pawns of my plan, not only in life but even after death!"

Lloyd's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean by that, fiend?"

Nergal laughed wickedly. "You Black Fang fools are more useful to me dead than alive! In every battle that you've fought, my precious creation Limstella has been draining the life force of your little armies as they lay dying on the battlegrounds. Their quintessence strengthened me as I gathered more from each fight. And now, my power is fully restored! Once I open the Dragon's Gate, I will be unstoppable!"

He paused for just a moment, and then gave Lloyd a malicious smile. "And your father's quintessence was absolutely magnificent in my restoration."

"Monster!" Linus yelled. He couldn't and wouldn't hear any more of this blasphemy. "You murdered my father and nearly ruined his life's work! I'll tear you to pieces!" He grabbed a hand axe from one of his soldiers and hurled it at Nergal with all of his might.

The axe flew straight at Nergal…and bounced harmlessly off of him. Nergal laughed mockingly. "Is that the best you can do? A Hand Axe? Fool! I have lived in the darkness for centuries! Let me show you a taste of TRUE power!"

Nergal raised his hands. Suddenly, darkness pulsated from the depths of the earth, surrounding the Dark Druid. Everyone stared in horrified amazement; this was something that no-one, not even Canas or Dusk, had seen before. Nergal suddenly reached out his hand towards Linus, and a vortex of black shadows swirled around him. The vortex sped up faster and faster until, suddenly, it exploded violently in pulsating darkness. Through the explosion, Lloyd could hear an agonized scream from within.

"LINUS!" Lloyd yelled in horror at seeing his brother being attacked so brutally.

When the shadows finally cleared, Linus was collapsed on the ground. He was badly battered and clearly would not be able to get up without help, but it seemed like he would survive. Immediately, a Black Fang sage rushed towards Linus and held out a Mend Staff, healing the wounds that Nergal's spell had inflicted.

Lloyd whirled towards Nergal, blade drawn and ready to avenge his brother.

"I grow weary of these interruptions," Nergal suddenly snapped, the amusement in his voice now replaced by impatience and anger. "Unless you would like to see my full power here and now, your little dancer and bard friend will have to make a choice. Come with me, or watch everyone they care about perish." He sneered at the two Children of Destiny, "Your choice."

Nobody moved for several seconds. Finally, Ninian stepped up. "If I come with you, will you let my brother go?"

"NO!" Eliwood and Nils both shouted in shock and horror. Lloyd felt similarly horrified, but a small part of him emphasized with Ninian's choice. If Linus or Nino were ever threatened by a grave danger, he would have gladly sacrificed his life to save theirs.

"One of you should suffice. Very well…as you wish."

Ninian turned to face Nils. "No, Ninian!" the younger bard cried out. "Why?"

"…Look after Lord Eliwood, Nils." She reached out and clasped her hands over her brothers'. She seemed to glow faintly for a second, and then that light transferred into Nils through their arms. As the glow faded, Ninian slowly let go of her hands.

"Ninian!" Eliwood and Nils both cried out. However, with no choice, she slowly moved towards Nergal's side.

"Excellent, Ninian! The gate will open and I will gain unlimited power!" Nergal cackled.

"Don't move, Nergal! I will cut you down!" Eliwood yelled. But before he could do so, Athos dragged him and Nils back. "Get down, both of you!"

Lloyd and Linus soon saw why. An explosion of energy seemed to burst from Nergal, completely blinding them. When the light finally faded, Nergal and Ninian were gone, and Eliwood and Nils were both knocked unconscious.

"You!" Athos turned to Dusk. "We need to move these two to camp right away! They need to recover!"

"Of course!" Dusk didn't waste any time. "Serra! Get stretchers ready. We need to get Eliwood and Nils to safety!"

"I can carry one of them," Linus offered.

Dusk gave him a startled look. "Linus! Are you sure you're up to this? It's a miracle you even survived that attack!"

"I'm fine," Linus replied confidently. "I'm the Rabid Hound of the Four Fangs! It'll take more than some dark magic attack to bring me down!"

"With that attitude, I'm sure you'll be fine," Lloyd laughed despite the situation that had just occurred. "Since you're technically the stronger of us two, you should take Eliwood's stretcher. I'll carry Nils back to camp."

/

When Eliwood finally awoke, Hector, Lyndis, Athos, Lloyd, and Linus were all sitting around him with looks of relief on their faces.

"Wh-what happened? Where am I?" asked Eliwood, confused.

"You're in camp," Hector answered. "Athos put up a barrier to protect you right when Nergal caused that explosion. Otherwise you and Nils would have both been killed."

"N-Ninian…" Eliwood muttered. He couldn't believe that his one true love had been taken, yet again, by that wretched fiend Nergal. "Where's Dusk? I want to talk to him about that darkness spell."

At that moment, Dusk entered. "I'm sorry, Eliwood, I was a bit occupied at the moment. One of the Black Fang suddenly arrived. He said his name was Igor and that he had a package for Lloyd and Linus. He also said it was of the utmost importance that they got it."

Lloyd's eyes widened. "That's exactly what I wanted! Come on, Linus! We need to pick up those items from Igor!"

Both of them exited the tent. Linus turned to his brother in confusion. "What exactly are you talking about, Lloyd?"

"Before the battle at the Shrine of Seals began, I met Igor out in the open. I sent him back to the Black Fang winter fort to pick up those special weapons that we keep hidden."

Linus' eyes suddenly went wide with understanding. "Oh, THOSE weapons! But how did Igor get to the winter fort and back so soon? That trip should have taken days!"

They both turned to see Igor standing in front of them. "Soon after I left the area," Igor explained, "I met with one of my friends who happened to be a Wyvern Lord. He volunteered to take me to the Black Fang fort. I was able to give my message and collect the items that you wanted, Lord Lloyd. Then I came back here in record time." He produced a package and showed it to them. "Here are your special weapons."

Linus took the package from Igor and ripped it open eagerly. Inside were a Killing Edge, Silver Blade, and a Wo Dao for Lloyd, and a Tomahawk, Killer Axe, and Brave Sword for Linus. There were also two new Light Brands. But what really mattered to them both were…

"Our Regal Blades!" exclaimed Linus. He and Lloyd each took one and held them in their hands.

"It's been a long time since I held this in my hand, Linus," Lloyd told his brother solemnly. "If there was ever a time to use them, now would be it."

"Thanks, Igor," Linus thanked his lieutenant. "You can go join the rest of the Black Fang. They've set up camp around here for now."

Igor saluted and left. Lloyd turned to his brother. "I think the rest of the commanders are coming out of the tent. Let's go rejoin them now that we have our best weapons here."

As soon as Lyn saw the two Reed brothers and their new weapons, her eyes widened in shock. "You didn't tell us you had these powerful weapons, Lloyd!"

Lloyd chuckled. "That's because we didn't have them until just now, Lady Lyndis."

Eliwood examined the two Regal Blades that they were holding. "My goodness! Those two blades you're wielding…they're unlike anything I've ever seen before!"

Lloyd nodded. "These are Regal Blades, exceptionally rare and powerful blades. Back when my father first created the Black Fang, there was another king of Bern before Desmond who was a very kindhearted man. He asked my father to lead the Black Fang to destroy a particularly brutal and large group of bandits terrorizing all of Bern. Leading just a few men against an entire army, my father wiped them off the face of Elibe without losing a single man. As gratitude, the King gave my father these Regal Blades. These were said to have been created by Hartmut himself, and while they might not be as powerful as the Sacred Weapons, they come pretty close to it."

"Wow," whistled Hector. "I don't think I've ever seen swords like those, and living in Castle Ostia I've seen a lot of finely crafted weapons."

"Speaking of swords," interrupted Athos, "before you continue on to find the Sacred Weapons I have something for you, Hector."

"What's this? A Heaven Seal! Look, old man, I've already tried one of these before and…"

"This time will be different," Athos replied calmly. "Trust me."

Hector took the Heaven Seal in his hand. Suddenly, it glowed brightly and lightning seemed to surge out from Hector. It charged all around his body, and as it did so his old armor seemed to be replaced by a tougher and more majestic one. In a brilliant flash, the transformation was complete. Hector had become a Great Lord.

"How do you feel, Hector?" asked Lyndis.

"This…this is amazing! I feel like I can do anything! Nothing can stop me! Not even Nergal!" exclaimed Hector.

"The power will run rampant through you at first, but it is yours by birth. You will be able to control it as time passes. And with your new power, you will be able to use swords, a weapon that you couldn't use before I gave you the seal." Athos explained.

"All right!" Hector shouted triumphantly. "Eliwood, Lyndis, let's go find those Sacred Weapons! I'm ready to tear Nergal to pieces!"

"Patience, young one!" Athos chided gently. "It is a long and hard road ahead of you. Give yourself some time to control your new powers, and your warriors some time to rest for the night. I will take you to the Sacred Weapons in due time."

Hector reluctantly gave the order to disperse into the camp. Linus turned to Lloyd. "Aww, man, Lloyd," he complained, "I wish I could use a Heaven Seal. Just imagine how strong I'd be!"

Lloyd smiled. "Unfortunately, Linus, I think Heaven Seals can only be used by royalty and direct descendants of the Eight Generals. But now that we have our most powerful weapons in our possession, we'll be just as ready as Hector. Now let's go get some food, I'm starving."

Linus nodded. "Yeah, I haven't had anything to eat since this morning. Too busy plotting my revenge," he said a bit guiltily.

"Don't worry about it, everything's all right now," responded Lloyd. He sniffed the air. "That food smells really good! Want to eat and talk later?"

"I've got no problems with that!" Linus agreed. Without saying any more, the new leaders of the Black Fang went to get some well-deserved meals.

A/N: So, it looks like the "special package" Lloyd was talking about earlier actually turned out to be some really, REALLY sweet weapons! I mean, two Regal Blades? Wow! By the way, I don't think Nergal actually created those semi-Sacred weapons. Rather, I believe he found them in his travels, and that he later took Basilikos from Brendan and would have taken the Regal Blade(s) from the Reed brothers if he had the chance. Anyway, Ninian's been kidnapped by Nergal again, but on the plus side Hector's now been promoted! The next few chapters will likely be filler to focus more on Lloyd and Linus. Read and review please!


	14. Chapter 14 - Conversations

A/N: Another filler chapter featuring our favorite Black Fang members! And Dusk. And Fiora. Am I missing anybody…no….that's about it I think! XD

Chapter 14 – Conversations

Night had fallen, and most of Eliwood's army had retired into their tents. The Black Fang soldiers had volunteered to take watch, which was a huge relief since not only was everyone in the original army happy to get a night's rest, but also because there were far more of them and they were much more likely to detect a potential threat.

Lloyd and Linus were both in their tent, getting ready to retire for the night. Lloyd was about to lay down into his makeshift bed when he noticed Linus wincing in pain as he was doing the same.

"Are you all right, Linus?" Lloyd asked worriedly.

"Yeah," Linus muttered, "but that darkness spell Nergal shot at me…that was the most painful thing I ever experienced. The worst I've ever gotten hit with before were Nosferatu and the occasional Luna."

"Same here…" Lloyd agreed, a bit worried now that he knew exactly how powerful Nergal really was.

"Do you think Dusk or Canas know anything about that spell?" Linus suddenly asked.

"Mhm…it's possible. I mean, they're both pretty experienced Dark Magic users," Lloyd responded.

Linus suddenly sat up. "I've got an idea, Lloyd!"

"What?" asked a bewildered Lloyd.

"What if we ask Dusk to teach us how to resist dark magic? Have him hit us a few times with dark spells until we're strong enough to take them head-on!"

"Are you kidding me, Linus?" Lloyd stared at him as if he had gone drunk. "Do you know how powerful Dusk is? He could end up accidentally killing us if he lets loose a particularly lethal attack!"

"I know he's tough, Lloyd, but if Nergal can't kill us with that spell of his I'm pretty sure Dusk can't either. And we can play it safe by putting on our Iron Runes so that he doesn't kill us off by mistake."

Lloyd stroked his chin. "The more I think about it, the more I actually believe that might not be such a bad idea. As long as we be careful about it, that is."

"I'll talk to Dusk tomorrow, Lloyd. Trust me. This will help us against Nergal in the long run, I'm sure of it!"

"All right, Linus. Have a good night."

"You too, brother."

-the next day-

"You want me to what?" asked a very confused Dusk the next morning. He had never been approached with this kind of request before.

"We'd like you to attack us with some of your darkness spells," Linus repeated the request. "Nergal's spell was one of the most deadly things I've ever experienced in my entire life. I feel like if you hit us with dark magic, we'll start to get used to it and we'll be better off against Nergal."

"An interesting idea…" mused Dusk, "and one that I guess could work under certain conditions. Just make sure that you are wearing your Iron Runes when we attempt this experiment. And also inform the rest of the Black Fang so that nobody thinks I'm actually attacking you." A small smirk stretched across his face. "If I killed you by mistake or anybody got the wrong impression that could cause quite a few…issues. Seek me out later in the evening."

Dusk then left to gather everyone for the march to the resting place of Armads. Linus looked around and saw Nino and Legault playing around. As he approached them, Nino looked up and saw her stepbrother coming.

"Hi, Linus!" she waved cheerily. "Legault and I were just talking about what the Fang was like before Nergal took over. He told me that it was like home, where everybody felt comfortable knowing that what they did was right and that they were all good people. Is this true, Linus?"

Linus grinned. "Legault hit it on the mark, Nino. We were more than just some organization. We were a family. Father always cared about the innocent people who lived in Bern, but he knew that the nobility was full of corruption and that they would never do anything, least of all that scum King Desmond," he scowled. "Hopefully, like Vaida keeps saying, Prince Zephiel will make things better once he becomes king."

He continued on, "Anyway, everyone trusted each other and watched each other's backs. I can't count how many times father jumped in to save a fellow Black Fang member in danger, not to mention how many times Lloyd and I watched each other's backs. We did all sorts of things, like secretly protect people from bandits and, a little less honorably, kill off wicked nobles who were bringing nothing but pain onto their subjects."

"Why didn't we ever come out into the open?" asked Nino.

"Because," answered Legault, "if we did that then every noble who feared us would try to hunt us down and destroy us. You have to understand, Nino, that nobles fear threats to their power more than anything else. If we made ourselves fully known, it would be much easier to try to get rid of us. Sure, everyone knew what we were. But that's all we ever revealed."

"What are you going to do with the Fang now that Nergal and Sonia have ruined it?" Nino asked a bit worriedly.

Linus ruffled her hair and smiled. "Ah, but that's just it! Nergal and Sonia HAVEN'T ruined it. Not yet anyway. Father may be gone, but Lloyd's still here, I'm still here, Legault's still here, and so is everyone who truly cared about what the Fang was meant to stood for. Even Jaffar had a chance to redeem himself and took it because of you. So long as we're all still alive, the spirit of the Fang will never die."

Nino looked up at her stepbrother. "Can I be a member of the Four Fangs?"

Linus laughed at first, but his face soon developed a thoughtful and serious expression. "I'm not sure that's such a good idea, Nino," Linus finally answered. "Being a member of the Four Fangs means you have to accept killing as part of your life, and that's not something you should be directing your life toward. Legault would be a better choice. The path of the Fang is something he's accepted a long time ago, and even without that he's older and more experienced than you are."

Legault looked away. "I'm not that good of a fighter, Linus. You, Lloyd, and Jaffar were the real masters of the blade."

Linus shook his head. "You're a lot more skilled than you give yourself credit for. I saw you sign the Fell Contract that Dusk gave you. Given time, I'm sure you'll reach Jaffar's level with your newfound skill as an Assassin."

"Thanks, Linus. Coming from you, that means a lot," Legault replied gratefully.

"You guys, everyone's packing up!" Nino suddenly noticed.

"Flux, we better get moving. We're going to the resting place of Armads!" Linus burst into action. Legault and Nino quickly followed suit. It wouldn't do to hold everyone back when time was of the essence.

/

Lloyd walked quietly by himself on the road to Armads. So much had happened in the past week and he still found it extremely hard to comprehend it all. He needed some time alone to think, and now was as good a time as any.

"Lloyd?" a voice asked. "Are you all right?"

Lloyd turned to see Fiora nearby. Apparently, she had elected to let her Pegasus walk this particular road so that she could rest her wings. He smiled at her. "Yes, I'm fine. Just thinking about everything that's happened recently. It's a lot to take in."

"I know how you feel," replied Fiora. "I've finally met both of my sisters again in ways that I never really expected. Although," she laughed softly, "neither of them were trying to kill us at first."

"Linus is my brother and I love him like one," Lloyd answered, "but I will admit that he's very bold and rash. Whenever we were going to have a battle back in the days of the Old Fang, Linus would always be the one who wanted to jump in and chop up some evildoers. Father and I were the ones who came up with the plans."

"That sounds like my sister Farina. She ran away from home so that she could make money as a mercenary," Fiora explained. "For a long time I was angry that she abandoned our family like that out of greed, but eventually I learned that she had only done so in order to help our family, especially Florina. I couldn't stay angry after that."

"Her heart was in the right place, and that's what counts in the end," Lloyd replied.

"I know…even though it still tore a hole in our relationship that to this day hasn't completely healed…" Fiora said, regret in her voice. "But I don't want to burden you with all of my problems, Lloyd."

"Don't be sorry, it's no problem," Lloyd shook off the apology. "That's what friends are for."

Fiora smiled. "I'm glad that I can count on you. But I have another question I've wanted to ask you."

"What might that be?" asked Lloyd.

"Where did you learn to fight with a sword like that? I honestly think you're the best swordsman I've seen in my entire life, and that includes the Sacaen ones that I've met."

Lloyd chuckled at the complement. "I don't think I'm THAT good, but I'll answer your question anyway. You see, I was out in Sacae at one point long ago."

Fiora gave Lloyd a confused look. "All the way out there? I thought the Black Fang did their work in Bern!"

"That's true," Lloyd laughed, "but I don't actively serve the Fang all the time. Even my father took breaks once in a while. Anyway, I was already a decent enough sword fighter, but I wanted to expand my abilities, and the Sacaen swordsmen are legendary for their proficiency in that area. While I was there, I encountered one that was legendary not only for his skill, but also his bloodlust. He called himself Karel, if I'm not mistaken."

Fiora gasped. "The Sword Demon is your teacher?"

"Was my teacher," Lloyd corrected. "He taught me skills that gave me the potential to excel far past most other swordsmen of the time, but he also warned me that if I became too powerful then he would destroy me. I took his warning seriously and ended my training early to avoid getting killed, but I taught myself from there and, well, here I am."

Fiora stared at Lloyd in awe. "That truly is amazing, Lloyd. You really are a superior swordmaster."

"Thanks. You're pretty good with a lance yourself."

"I know, but it isn't the same story with my sword. I only recently became a Falcoknight, and even though I know the basics of the sword, they really are just the basics."

Lloyd frowned. "The downside of being a swordmaster is that I'm fixed in the Weapon Triangle. Lances are always a bit of an uncomfortable spot for me, unless I'm wielding a Lancereaver," he laughed, "and we all know how rare reaver weapons are. You at least have some versatility. As limited as your sword skill may be, it's better than no sword skill at all."

Fiora smiled. "Maybe you could teach me how to improve with the sword. And in exchange, I could show you how to fight more effectively against lances."

Lloyd nodded. "It's a deal, Fiora. We'll both become even better through helping each other. The next time we have some free time we can train."

"Thank you, Lloyd. You really are a good friend. It's no wonder everyone else in the Black Fang looks up to you."

/

A small smile was etched across Legault's face as he watched Lloyd and Fiora. He had never seen Lloyd talk so closely with another member of the Black Fang, unless it was one of his relatives or himself. "So, Lloyd…" he spoke in almost a whisper. "You've finally found someone you can really connect to outside of the Fang. The question is…will you simply become good friends with her? Or will it become something more?"

/

A/N: Linus's plan revolves around the whole "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" concept. It does not work in real game for obvious reasons, but I suppose if we were to incorporate some real-world element into this fic then it does make sense if you think about.

And yeah, I know, this whole "we train together to help each other get better" thing is already in quite a few B Supports and is borderline cliché, but it does make sense. And yep, Legault's keeping tabs on Lloyd's "love life." It's Legault, what did you expect? XD

Read and review please!


	15. Chapter 15 - New Developments

A/N: Moving on with the story! Since I think the army finds Armads before Durandal, this fic will reflect that particular timeline (sorry if it's inaccurate).

Chapter 15 – New Developments

Athos slowly guided the army up to a hidden cave deep in the mountains. "Here is where the sacred weapon lies, Hector. You must defeat the guardians of the ones who once fought in the Scouring before you can claim the Thunder Axe as your own."

Hector nodded. "Let's march in there and get that axe!"

"Hold!" Athos interrupted, putting his hand out to stop Hector. You cannot bring more than a few of your allies into this cave. If too many enter, the Guardian spirits will be agitated and that would be disastrous for you. Choose as few allies as you can, and choose them wisely."

"All right, Graybeard. I trust what you say. But I'm still ready for battle! I can feel the power from that Heaven Seal pulsing through me. Nothing can stop me!"

Hector rushed off to find Dusk and discuss battle preparations. Athos sighed as he watched Hector depart. "You are a bold one, Hector. That is both your greatest strength and greatest weakness. Exercise caution, or one day your recklessness will be your downfall."

/

Dusk had quickly gotten started on making a plan. "I could smell unsavory fumes even from the mouth. Something tells me that there are poison vents in that cave. The ones I choose should bring at least one Antitoxin and one Vulnerary. The rest of the weapons I'll leave for you to decide. In accordance to Lord Athos' advice, I will be selecting two other people besides Hector to fight for Armads."

Dusk turned to Eliwood. "Lord Eliwood, I select you as the first choice. You already have a bond of friendship with Hector much stronger than he does with most of the other members of this army. It is only fitting that you be one of the chosen few to aid Hector in his quest to obtain the legendary Thunder Axe."

Hector grinned at Eliwood. "I couldn't have said it better myself, Eliwood. Ready to help me get that Axe?"

Eliwood smiled and nodded. "I would be honored, my friend."

"And that leads me to choose your other ally," Dusk looked around until his eyes found Nino, whose attention had begun to wander. "Nino, you will be fighting alongside Eliwood and Hector."

Nino, Lloyd, and Linus all gasped. "You want ME to help Eliwood and Hector?" Nino asked in shock.

Dusk smiled. "Indeed, Nino."

"Wait just a minute!" Linus interrupted a bit angrily. "How are you even sure that Nino is up to the task? She's going to be up against a bunch of ghosts, for Elimine's Sake!"

"And poison vents?" Lloyd added, worry on his face. "What if Nino gets poisoned to death in those caves? I've always respected your opinion and judgment, Dusk, but I simply cannot agree to this unless you give us some good reasons why."

"I understand your concern," Dusk answered, raising his hand to prevent further objections, "but I investigated the spirits guarding Armads first. None of them are particularly powerful apart from the final Guardian, and there's no way I would let Nino fight him anyway."

"But…" Lloyd began.

"What is more," Dusk interrupted, holding out his hand again to silence them, "I have been watching Nino's progress ever since the battle at the water temple. Her skill and power already exceed that of many mages and even sages who have had much more experience than she had. In fact, it's time I give her this."

Dusk held out his hand to Nino, who gasped at what she was being offered. Inside Dusk's hand was a Guiding Ring.

"You…you really think I'm ready to be a Sage, Lord Dusk?"

Dusk made a face. "Please, don't call me Lord Dusk, it makes me feel old. And yes, you are ready. Claim the Ring and become a Sage, Nino. You've earned it."

Nino tentatively took the Ring and placed it on her finger. The moment she had done so, she began to shine in a blinding light. Everyone had to shield their eyes as the light grew brighter. When it had finally died down, they turned to look at Nino.

The Guiding Ring, like all promotion items when used, had disappeared as its energy had flowed into Nino. She had grown taller as a result of the transformation, and her robes had changed slightly. But what really made the difference was that everyone could feel the power exuding from her. Dusk had spoken truly; everyone could tell that she was already much more powerful than your typical sage.

Nino cheered. "Lloyd! Linus! I'm a Sage, I'm a Sage!"

Lloyd smiled. "Congratulations, Nino," he complimented warmly, "you truly served our army well to have already been promoted like this."

Linus clapped her on the back. "All right, Nino! Now that you're officially a Sage, you can join us in our fights. We'll tear apart evildoers and that menace Nergal in no time!"

"Control yourself, Linus, we're not ready to face Nergal yet," Lloyd restrained his brother. "Still, if Dusk really does see fit to send you with Eliwood and Hector to collect Armads, I have no more doubts."

"We'll need to get you a Heal Staff so that you can work on that new branch of magic," Dusk informed her. "You won't be as proficient with it as, say, Serra or Priscilla, but you should be able to do much with just a Heal Staff alone."

Dusk took Nino to Merlinus' wagon, where the cheery merchant was already taking out a Heal Staff to give to her. Lloyd and Linus looked at each other.

"Well, would you look at that?" Linus finally asked. "Barely 14 years old and already a powerful asset to our team!"

"Perhaps we were wrong to doubt her abilities. She's already becoming like an adult despite being only fourteen," Lloyd replied. "Even so, I get the feeling that Nergal's forces are much stronger than the forces we will soon face. I only hope Nino is up to the task. I dread to think what will happen if she isn't."

"Don't worry about it," Linus comforted his brother. "Knowing Nino, she'll get the job done. Plus, she has us, Jaffar, Legault, and the rest of the Black Fang to protect her, and unless Dusk somehow gets completely drunk or stupid all of a sudden I think we can rely on him as well."

Lloyd snickered. "A drunk Dusk," he mused, "is something that sounds both extremely hilarious and absolutely terrifying at the same time."

"Heh...speaking of Dusk...do you want to begin our dark magic resistance training soon?"

Lloyd shook his head. "Right now, probably not. Dusk has to guide Hector to Armads, and with Nino in the battle I don't want to disturb him. Instead, let's find Legault and work on our special Black Fang Triangle Attack."

Linus grinned. "I'm all for it!"

/

Fiora, after being dismissed by Dusk along with the rest of the army, made her way back to her tent with her pegasus in tow. She wasn't really disappointed that she hadn't been chosen as part of the group to collect Armads. After all, she already knew about the close relationship between Hector and Eliwood and had seen Nino's skills for herself. Nobody participated in EVERY battle apart from maybe the lords, so it was good to take a break once in a while.

Suddenly, she started hearing large thwacks and other assorted noises that appear to have been made from a sword. "What is that?" she wondered. "Are we being attacked?" But that didn't make sense. There would have been an alarm if one of Nergal's forces attacked, and since the Black Fang had joined them now there were no other significant enemies that she was aware of.

Grabbing her lance just in case, she left her tent and looked for the source of the sound. As she got closer, she realized that it was the two Reed brothers and another assassin named Legault who were cutting down a low tree to shreds. But it wasn't just some random chopping of wood. Linus and Legault were positioned on each side of the tree, while Lloyd faced the front of it. Almost as though it were a…

"Clearly this whole Triangle Attack idea isn't quite on the mark just yet," Lloyd was analyzing their first attempt, "but it's certainly not a bad start. A few more shots at it, and even the Falcoknight sisters won't believe what we can do."

"It'll be easier for me to if I see it for myself," Fiora spoke out from where she had been watching them.

All three of the Black Fang members whirled around to see her. Lloyd smiled. "Ah, Fiora!" he greeted her. "As you might have guessed, we were working on our own version of the Triangle Attack that Ilian pegasus knights like yourself use in battle. Since we couldn't think of anything better to do at the moment and Dusk is out guiding Hector, Eliwood, and Nino, we figured we would work on our own little signature move."

Fiora smiled. "Don't let me stop you. I think it's a wonderful idea."

Linus walked up to her. "Nice to meet you. I'm Linus Reed, Rabid Hound of the Black Fang and brother of Lloyd over there," he introduced himself, offering his hand out. Fiora shook it.

"Glad to meet you as well, Linus. Any friend of Lloyd is a friend of mine."

"We're brothers. If we weren't friends then we'd have serious issues."

Legault burst out laughing, and neither Fiora nor Lloyd could hide their smiles at Linus's little joke. "Very true, I guess," Lloyd said after a while. "These little practice sessions are one of the ways that we bond as brothers."

"Speaking of practice sessions, when do you want to start ours?" Fiora asked, having been reminded of their conversation earlier.

"Not tonight, I'm afraid," Lloyd told her regretfully. "Both Linus and I have already arranged a meeting with Dusk for this evening."

"That's quite all right. If Dusk needs your services I have no right to interfere. Perhaps tomorrow, then?"

Lloyd nodded. "That sounds like a great idea," he agreed. "I will see you tomorrow morning then."

Fiora smiled at the White Wolf and then walked back to her tent. Once she was gone, Legault whistled. "My my, Lloyd," he said snidely. "You got quite a catch with her. She seems just your type."

Lloyd turned on Legault. "What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, his tone growing a bit heated.

"Don't deny it, Lloyd. I saw you two talking on the way here," Legault asserted. "You two seemed to be enjoying yourself a lot. In fact, you talked with her almost as much and as deeply as you talk with Linus or Nino. Getting quite close to her, aren't you?"

"Wait just a minute!" Lloyd interrupted, annoyed, but Linus had already picked up where Legault had left off.

"Well well well, Lloyd! I knew you were going to be making a few new friends in Eliwood's army but I wasn't expecting you to go THAT far! Looks like you already found yourself a lucky lady!"

"Now you listen here…" Lloyd began again, but was again interrupted.

"Just make sure that if you…ah…dig a little deeper into this relationship, you do it within a zipped up tent," concluded a smug Linus, the expression on his face looking very evil indeed.

"Oh, that's it!" Lloyd snarled, throwing his sword down in disgust. "I'm out of here!" He stormed off, extremely irritated at the behavior of his friend and brother.

The other two watched him stomp off into the camp, looked at each other, and then burst out laughing.

"I think Lloyd's reaction just confirmed my suspicions," Legault said after he had finally stopped laughing.

"I think I agree with you. Our dear brother has fallen to the inescapable grasp of love. But," Linus suddenly turned serious, "what do you think this will do to his relationship with the Fang and with us?"

Legault nodded in understanding. "Just leave it to your brother to figure it out," he advised Linus. "If anybody can come up with a good plan, it's Lloyd. Trust me, he'll find a way to balance out his commitment to the Fang and to this...new girl of his."

"Should we tell Nino about this?" Linus inquired.

"I think she already knows or at least has her suspicions, but I won't voice them openly to her," Legault said. "She already has Jaffar to worry about."

"Heh...too true. Why don't you and I go and play some poker with some of our men? I'm bored, I've got spare cash, it's been a while since I had that kind of fun, and so long as we're not taking money away from the army fund nobody should complain."

"Sounds good to me," Legault smirked. He was already thinking of ways to turn the odds to his favor.

Linus caught the expression. "And no cheating!"

"Dammit!"

/

A/N: Gambling is everywhere, even in Fire Emblem! And Legault WOULD be the kind of guy to cheat XD

I'd like to add a quick note: The Black Fang members will serve a function identical to green NPC units, such as Rath's unit and the Ostian knights in FE7. However, unlike these utterly inept tools, the Black Fang will actually have some units that are actually COMPETENT! Gasp! Competent green units? IMPOSSIBLE! Well, some of them ARE promoted, so…

Nino is now a Sage, and the Black Fang leaders (I'm counting Legault as a leader of sorts) have started to develop their own Triangle Attack. As if they weren't already badass enough :D

Finally, I'm moving the rating up to T just to be safe. It definitely WILL NOT become M-rated though.

Read and review please!


	16. Chapter 16 - Resistance

A/N: Hey guys! Sorry it took so long since I last updated, my comp got screwed over and I needed to get it fixed.

Anyway, as much as you might have enjoyed the light-heartedness of the story ever since Linus arrived, be warned that it will soon be taking a much darker and sadder turn…if you've played the game you'll know why.

But for now, here's another chapter! This one mainly features Dusk, Lloyd, and Linus.

Chapter 16 –Resistance

"Agh, dammit Legault! How are you so damn lucky?"

Linus was fuming at a disastrous loss in his poker game with Legault and a couple more Black Fang members. Even though Linus had been making sure that Legault wasn't cheating like he had done in a few past games, the Hurricane had, true to his name, swept away everyone else's gold and wiped them all clean.

"My friend," Legault replied with a smug smile on his face, "luck has nothing to do with it."

"Ahem," a cough came from behind them.

Everyone turned to see Dusk watching them from behind. They all tried (and failed) to look as innocent as possible.

"While I don't necessarily mind you playing poker so long as we are not in the middle of a battle, I trust that this gold came purely from your own resources and not the army fund?" he questioned.

Linus looked shocked. "I'd NEVER take gold from the army!" he protested.

Dusk smiled. "That's what I thought. At any rate, I came here to inform you, Linus, that tonight you and Lloyd will be having that little practice session we discussed earlier once we arrive the resting place of Durandal. Hector was able to successfully able to retrieve Armads, so we are moving on to collect a Legendary Weapon for Lord Eliwood."

"Won't we be a bit tired for that after a long journey?" Linus asked a bit skeptically.

"If you are able to resist magic well when you're exhausted, you'll be even more prepared when you are fresh and ready for battle, will you not?"

"…"

"Be ready later tonight," was all Dusk said before he teleported away.

"What was he talking about?" asked a confused Legault.

"Our Dark Magic resistance sessions I told you earlier about," explained Linus.

"OH!" Legault realized what Linus was talking about. "Good luck with those. I've seen Dusk in action before, you know."

"How strong is he with his magic?" asked Linus a bit nervously.

Legault looked Linus right in the eye. "He's strong. Very strong. Certainly a lot stronger than the Druids in the Black Fang, including Teodor. Let's just say getting hit by him isn't exactly a walk in the Sacaen plains."

/

"This is not going to be easy, and this is not going to be painless. I hope you two are aware of that."

Dusk, Lloyd, and Linus were in a clearing that was set slightly apart from the opening of the cave that housed Durandal. He had given everyone some time to relax after their journey, but now they were ready to begin their session. It had been decided that they would retrieve Durandal tomorrow.

"You two have your Iron Runes on, correct?" Both Lloyd and Linus nodded. "Excellent. Just to be safe, I'm going to start with a basic Flux spell. Although, and forgive my seeming lack of modesty, my Flux attacks are a lot stronger than most, they should not cause men of your caliber and endurance serious harm. Prepare yourselves."

Dusk began chanting, lifted his arms, and then pointed them towards Linus. A ball of dark energy formed between his hands before dropping into the floor. The next moment, a symbol of darkness appeared underneath the Linus's feet before reforming and slamming into him. Linus grunted but stood his ground; compared to Nergal's brutal attack this was nothing. Dusk launched another Flux at Lloyd, whose reaction was the same as his brother's.

"That wasn't so bad," Lloyd thought. "It definitely hurt, but nothing to really worry about."

The tactician nodded approvingly and healed them both with a Heal staff. "Good. It's clear that you have some decent resistance already; I've seen many men suffer serious injury or death even from this most basic of Dark spells. We are ready to move on."

Dusk took out another tome. Unlike the Flux tome, there was a symbol inscribed on the cover. "As you may know, many dark spells have specific abilities unlike other types of magic. Nosferatu heals its user with the energy that it drains from the target. However, for purposes of this exercise we can regard it merely as a spell stronger than Flux."

Dusk again cast the spell, aiming it this time towards Lloyd. The swordmaster grunted again, though this time he was also knocked backward a short distance as the spell drained his life force. With admirable speed and agility, he quickly recovered and regained his footing. Dusk followed up with casting another Nosferatu on Linus, who was also knocked back by the spell. Although it appeared that he had been less affected and had been forced back a smaller distance than Lloyd, it also took a little more time for him to recover.

"Oof…I definitely felt the impact from that one," muttered Lloyd.

"You took those attacks well," Dusk evaluated as he healed the Reed brothers, "but that small moment of weakness could be all it takes for another enemy to cut you down. This will be a good place to start."

For the next two hours, Dusk repeatedly attacked Lloyd and Linus with the Nosferatu tome. It was an excruciating trial for both of them, and Lloyd hadn't felt this battered and exhausted ever since Eliwood had defeated him when they had first met back in the valley. Gradually, however, the two slowly began to resist the spell more effectively as their bodies grew used to the attacks. When the Nosferatu tome had finally burned out, the two of them were able to receive the blows without as much as a wince.

"Excellent. You two have already progressed much farther than most men in terms of magical endurance, even for magic wielders. I'm going to use one more tome against you, and then we are done for the night."

Dusk took out a final tome with a symbol marked differently from the Nosferatu tome. "Do either of you recognize this?" he asked.

"It's a Luna tome. I've seen some of the Black Fang Druids use it," answered Linus.

"Wait a minute," interrupted Lloyd suddenly. "I know what those do. That's the tome that ignores magical resistance, isn't it?"

"That is correct, Lloyd,"

"Then what's the point of that? We could have as much resistance as a dragon and it wouldn't mean a thing."

"Precisely," Dusk agreed. "Attempting to resist Luna is futile since, unlike other magic spells, it is powered purely by the strength of the wielder rather than innate power held within the tome itself. However, I still think it would prove wise for you to experience the spell nevertheless. Just so that you know what you could be up against in the future. Be warned: this will probably be most painful spell out of the ones I have cast on you so far."

Dusk raised his arms and cast the spell on Lloyd. Six circles of dark fire materialized and floated around Lloyd in a circle. Suddenly, they converged on the swordmaster. "ARRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!" he screamed in pain as the balls of darkness struck and he was forced down onto one knee.

"Lloyd!" Linus yelled in horror. "He whirled around to Dusk. What did you do?" he shouted.

"I did warn you," Dusk responded evenly. "The dark flames that make up Luna are slightly different from the dark power of most other darkness tomes. These flames have a more unstable nature, one of the reasons why they completely ignore magic resistance. Because of this instability, they can occasionally tear apart an individual entirely. That is why I had you bring your Iron Runes: so that this violent effect would not take place."

"I…I'm all right, Linus," Lloyd panted, "So…so long as he doesn't hit me with that again."

Dusk quickly reached out his staff and healed Lloyd. "I understand that I might have overstepped myself with the Luna spell. Perhaps we should end before I attempt to cast the spell on Li-"

"No…" Linus cut him off, "do it. Whatever won't kill me will make me stronger, and I'm going to assume that your spell won't kill me."

"Very well," Dusk nodded. He cast the spell on Linus, and just like Lloyd he collapsed on his knees as the dark flames of Luna struck him. "AGGHHHH!" he cried out. "You…you weren't kidding when you said that was going to hurt, Dusk," he muttered.

"This is the very pain that Nergal will bring down upon you if you are not prepared for it. Being attacked with this spell will possibly be your most torturous moment in this army so far, but you will be all the stronger in the end."

Dusk cast Luna upon them again, but it was only a few tries later when he himself collapsed in what seemed to be exhaustion.

"Are you all right, Dusk?" asked a concerned Lloyd.

"Yes," replied Dusk, "what I am experiencing is the disadvantage, well-known by experienced dark magic users, of using the Luna tome. Because it draws directly from one's strength rather than its own source of power, the Luna spell drains energy much more quickly. Enemies can easily take advantage of that moment of weakness unless the Druid in question is naturally fast or sturdy enough."

"Can I ask you a question, Dusk?" Linus suddenly requested.

"Go ahead."

"How do you know so much about Dark magic? Apart from Nergal and Athos I honestly think you're the most powerful magic wielder I've ever met. Who did you learn all of this from?"

A shadow darkened Dusk's face. "I do not like to speak about my master," he tersely replied.

"Sorry," Linus apologized, feeling a bit ashamed for prying.

"Don't be. I will not give you full details, but I will tell you this," Dusk finally decided. "My master was a great man. He knew more about dark magic than any other sorcerer I've ever met in my entire life. Not only that, but he believed that dark magic could benefit the world in ways that other types of magic couldn't, and dedicated his life to that goal." He sighed, "but then he was killed by Nergal in his crazed quest for power."

Lloyd clenched his fists and Linus spat on the ground in disgust. "Yet another crime to add to his endless list," Linus snarled.

"I look forward to tearing that depraved maniac to pieces," Lloyd added angrily.

Dusk raised his hand to interrupt them. "We cannot worry about who will slay Nergal unless we are prepared to do so at all. Get some rest, you two. Because both of you will be joining Eliwood in his mission to retrieve Durandal from its resting place."

A/N: This chapter is more of my personal analysis on dark magic and offers some hints on Dusk's past.

It also contains my way of balancing the Luna tome. I personally think it's BS that a Druid like Dusk or Canas can go up to Nergal or the Dragon and go "OMG HAHA NOOB I HAVE A BROKEN TOME AND I JUST GOT A CRIT AND ONE-SHOT YOUR ASS GG LOLOLOLOLOLOL." So, I am increasing the weight of the Luna tome to 16 to compensate for its ridiculous power (only a max speed druid with at least 9 Con could double Nergal with it).

As Dusk himself would say, power comes at a price.

Read and review please!


	17. Chapter 17 - An Assassin's Work

A/N: Hey guys! Finally we get to see some action back into the fic!

Current details (mostly supports) for the Black Fang characters are:

Lloyd/Linus – B Support

Lloyd/Fiora – B Support

Linus/Legault – B Support

Legault/Nino – B Support (she would have had supports with both Linus and Lloyd except that Legault and Jaffar got there first)

Jaffar/Nino – A Support (so Nino is capped support-wise)

All of Nino's stats are in their early-mid 20s with the obvious exceptions of defense and HP, since Nino is an RNG-proof badass courtesy of Afa's drops.

Lloyd's, Linus's, and Legault's stats will be revealed later.

And now, onto the fic! I don't own Fire Emblem

Chapter 17 – An Assassin's Work

"Lance users, including falcoknights like me, tend to attack right from the front, so the best course of action for you will likely be to sidestep and then strike," Fiora instructed. She and Lloyd had both woken up early this morning, bumped into each other outside of their tents, and had decided to begin the training session that they had mentioned earlier.

"I could see plenty of windows of opportunity if a lance-wielding enemy misses," Lloyd commented as he dodged Fiora's strike, "I could swipe at their exposed arms or body if the lance extended too far out, or try to knock the lance out of their hand."

"That could work if your enemy was lightly armored," Fiora responded, "but if you're facing a general or even a wyvern lord that might not work."

"Generals tend to be very slow though because of all that heavy armor, so that alone offers opportunities for retaliation if they miss," Lloyd countered.

"Very true," agreed Fiora, "but some lance users, especially generals, tend to hold their lances in a defensive stance rather than attempting to attack with them. What would you do then?"

"Use a lancereaver or an armorslayer," Lloyd immediately joked, to which Fiora laughed loudly. "Or, if I don't have one of those, use their bulk against them. I've faced such situations before, and just when it would seem that I would be knocked to the ground I would always spin around and thrust a blade into an enemy's exposed neck. It takes them by surprise. Very few swordsmasters know how to pull off this technique, and it took a lot of practice with the Black Fang generals for me to master it."

"From what I can tell you don't even need my help," Fiora laughed.

"No, this was still very helpful. It's been a long time since I practiced this thoroughly," Lloyd thanked Fiora. They sparred a few more rounds, Lloyd showing off the technique that he was talking about (minus the thrust into the neck).

After they had finished sparring, Fiora asked, "Are you going to teach me about the sword now?"

"Of course," Lloyd nodded. "The first thing I've noticed is your grip. It's certainly not the worst I've seen, but the way you're holding the sword right now will cramp your hand after a while, which could be lethal on the battlefield. Let me show you."

Lloyd corrected Fiora's sword grip, and she studied the sword in her hand. "Wow, it feels so much more comfortable now."

"Swords are not lances. They are their own different type of weapon, and need to be treated as such. Now, let me show you some basic techniques that you could find helpful."

Two hours of sparring and tutoring later, Fiora had become proficient in the slash, thrust, and parry that Lloyd had taught her. "You have flight and mobility to your advantage. Use them as you normally do with the lance," he advised. Fiora had taken that advice to heart, and though she still wasn't anywhere near the level of Lyndis or Eliwood, she had improved visibly.

"Um, Lloyd?"

"Yes, Fiora?"

"Do you think…when we fight…we could be battle partners? I feel like you're someone I can really count on to watch my back, just as much as if not more so than my sisters," Fiora asked a bit tentatively.

Lloyd smiled warmly. "I'm truly honored by your request, Fiora. I'd be glad to fight at your side for the rest of the war, as long as you would allow me to do the same for my family and Legault."

Fiora nodded. "That's no problem at all, Lloyd. And thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me."

She held out her hand to Lloyd, who slowly took it. Together, they departed back towards the main part of the camp.

/

Two hooded figures watched the White Wolf and the Wing-borne Warrior from the shadows of the nearby trees. As they saw the two depart, a grin appeared on one of their faces.

"Did I not tell you, Dusk, that the two of them were getting quite close to each other?" Legault challenged the Druid tactician.

Dusk merely smiled in response. "Indeed you did," he conceded, "although at first I suspected that they were no more than mere acquaintances getting along together."

"What do you think is going on between them?" Legault asked, the grin fading a little. "Do you think they could possibly be…you know…FALLING for each other?"

Dusk was silent for several moments. "There's no telling for certain, at least not at this stage," he finally answered. "I do have one way to find out eventually. That will involve pairing Lloyd and Fiora together in upcoming battles, which I don't have a problem with personally. Do you have any objection to them engaging in romance, IF that happens?"

Legault shook his head. "Not even remotely, and I'll tell you why. The Black Fang and the assassin work that comes with it is a way of life, that is true, but it should never be what defines your life. That's the mistake that men like Jerme or Pascal made. You can't forget that, even as an assassin, in the end, you're still a human being and that has to come first. If Lloyd truly is falling for that falcoknight, it'll be a daily reminder that he's still a man capable of love and compassion, and I'll gladly support that."

Dusk nodded. "Well spoken, Hurricane," he said approvingly. "You've truly learned much both during your tenure in the Black Fang and as part of our army. You are a great man not only in terms of skill with the blade but also as a person."

"Coming from you, Dusk, that means a lot."

Legault held out his hand, and Dusk shook it warmly. "Now then," he spoke, his tone turning businesslike, "let us awaken the rest of the camp. We have a legendary sword to collect."

/

"Ah, Lloyd, this feels just like the good old days," Linus said contentedly as he threw a hand axe at an incoming spirit, slicing through it and dissolving it instantly.

"Heh…you know, it does, doesn't it?" replied Lloyd as he chopped another spirit into nothingness. This time, both he and Linus had been chosen to accompany Eliwood to retrieve Durandal, along with Legault and Lady Lyndis. Eliwood had remained in the center, while Lloyd and Linus had taken the left side while Lyndis and Legault had moved to the right.

"Hey, Lloyd…not even Dusk knows about our little triangle attack plan. I think we should give him an opening act," Linus suggested.

"Wait, what? That would be breaking formation," Lloyd protested, "and just how do you intend to get Legault over here anyway?"

"I already told him, and he's all for it," Linus responded. "We agreed that when you used your Light Brand to attack an enemy, that's the signal for Legault to come over. We arrange in a formation in front of, oh, let's say that Warrior over there, and then we chop him to pieces, whadda you say?" he added.

"Urrgh…you know what? I don't feel like following the rules for a change. Let's do it!" Lloyd finally decided to delight of his brother.

"All right!" he high-fived Lloyd. "Let's show Dusk and Eliwood our little surprise!"

/

Dusk had been watching the battle from afar, satisfied with everyone's progress. So far, everyone had been performing very well in the battle. He watched as Lloyd raised his Light Brand and cast a beam of magic at an archer.

Suddenly, Legault broke away from Lyndis and moved towards the Reed brothers' positions. Dusk hadn't given any orders to do so. He wasn't worried about Lyn; she could take care of herself. But he hadn't expected Legault of all people to be the one to break formation; it just wasn't in his character. There had to be another reason.

"Just what exactly are you doing, Hurricane?" he thought as his mind processed the possibilities.

/

Lloyd, Linus, and Legault all took their positions next to the warrior, Lloyd standing in front of him.

"Are you ready, you two?" Lloyd asked his brother and friend.

"Go for it!" the two responded.

"All right! In the name of the Black Fang, I sentence you to death!" Lloyd shouted. "TRIANGLE ATTACK!"

For Eliwood, Lyn, and Dusk, it felt like time slowed down as they watched a maneuver both beautiful and terrifying. Lloyd almost flew at the warrior, slashing twice. He whirled around into battle formation as Legault whipped past him, cutting down from above the warrior into his shoulders. The Hurricane backed out as Linus threw his shield into the air, slamming both this shield and his sword onto the warrior's head. The Rabid Hound moved aside as the White Wolf finished the warrior off with one deep slash into his chest, completing the deadly maneuver.

The Warrior didn't even have a chance to cry out as he dissolved instantly. Everyone, even the berserker spirit Georg, stared in shock at the three Black Fang captains.

Eliwood finally broke the silence as he galloped forward to confront Georg. The berserker threw his tomahawk at the Knight Lord, but the heir to Pherae easily dodged the axe and cut him down with his Killing Edge. As Georg muttered his last words, Eliwood rode forward to claim the entrance to the resting place of Roland and of Durandal.

As Eliwood and Athos spoke to the spirit of Roland, Lyndis and Dusk began to compliment Lloyd, Linus, and Legault for their triangle attack.

"That was amazing!" Lyn gasped. "I had no idea anybody could be so coordinated like that! You made me look like an amateur!"

"Throughout my life, very few things have been able to surprise me," Dusk added. "You've accomplished that with this…triangle attack, as you call it. Now that I've seen it, I'll definitely remember it for future reference. Very well done, all three of you."

"Thank you," Lloyd responded, a bit embarrassed by all of the praise they was receiving.

"Hey, it looks like Lord Athos and Lord Eliwood are done," Linus suddenly noted. "Let's get out of here, this place gives me the creeps."

As the six of them departed the cave, Hector joined them and they all studied the Durandal blade that Eliwood was now holding.

"That truly is a beautiful weapon," Lloyd commented in awe. "No wonder it is considered sacred."

"It looks perfect for cutting down that blackheart Nergal," Hector added.

As they gazed upon the blade, it began to glow brightly. "Why is it glowing like that?" Lyn asked in confusion.

Suddenly, they all heard a huge roar from behind them and a shadow fell upon them all.

"Th-that…" Linus spluttered. "I-it can't be!"

"It's a…" Lloyd gasped, "i-it's a…!"

/

A/N: IT'S A CLIFFHANGER! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! XD

Sorry, you'll have to wait for the next chapter for more.

By the way, the Black Fang's triangle attack has many specifications to it. Only Lloyd can initiate the attack, Linus has to be holding a sword, and Legault has to be an Assassin.

However, this Triangle Attack has a significant advantage over the other one in that it has Silencer that's even better than an assassin's. The Black Fang triangle attack has a 66% chance of killing a unit instantly, and a 33% chance of killing Nergal. Otherwise, it will have a 100% hit chance and a 100% crit chance like a normal pegasus knight Triangle Attack. Needless to say, it does not work against the dragon.

To those of you who are having trouble visualizing the attack, here's a more game-based description:

Lloyd gets into his crit battle stance, with Legault and Linus getting into their crit battle stances in the background. Lloyd does his first two strikes in his crit and assumes his battle position again as Legault does his crit strike. Legault fades out and Linus does his crit strike, fading out again. Lloyd finishes with his final crit strike, which will either be a normal crit or instakill depending on whether or not Uber-silencer procs.

Read and review please! :D


	18. Chapter 18 - A Cruel Irony

A/N: Hey guys! Before I start off, I'd like to answer a review that one of my main supporters, Rapis-Razuri, put up regarding supports. Although I officially listed certain characters as having A or B Support with each other, this does NOT mean that their social interaction is limited to only those characters. For example, Nino is obviously very close to her brothers and would no doubt have had a support with them if they had actually joined in-game. Also, in my games, I always have Hector and Eliwood B Support, Florina and Hector A Support, and Eliwood and Ninian A support. Obviously this doesn't mean that any of them completely ignore Lyndis. I will be expanding the characters' interactions with other non-Black Fang characters in future chapters. Thank you, Rapis-Razuri, for addressing this topic.

And now, time to pick up where we left off!

Chapter 18 – A Cruel Irony

"IT'S A DRAGON!" Hector exclaimed in shock.

"H-how?" Linus spluttered in confusion. "The dragons were supposed to be banished to another world because of the Scouring! Why is there one attacking us now?"

"We can't fight that," Lloyd muttered grimly. "You know what the legends say…only the most powerful of weapons could hope to even scratch a dragon's scales." He then noticed Eliwood approaching the dragon. "What's Lord Eliwood doing?"

Everyone turned to see Eliwood approaching the humongous beast. Almost as though he was being led by Durandal itself, he raised the mighty sword and sliced it in an arc, slashing a huge gash in the chest of the dragon. The great beast bellowed in pain and reared back in agony, crying out one final time before collapsing onto the ground in front of them.

"Eliwood!" Lyndis called out in a concerned voice. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Eliwood replied distantly, almost as though his mind had recently broken free from some controlling force.

"How did you do that?" Hector demanded in shock.

"It's as though my arm was moving on its own accord," Eliwood answered as he slowly gathered his senses.

"That is the power of Durandal," Athos explained. "It was created for the purpose of destroying dragons, to the point that it can influence its wielder to carry out that purpose."

Lloyd looked at the dragon that Eliwood had just mortally wounded. He should have been happy or relieved; now that it had been defeated, there was no way it could possibly harm the army that he was now a part of. But now that he looked at it more closely, he felt a sudden chill down his spine. The dragon looked familiar somehow, almost as though it had been a friend. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he had a feeling that something was terribly, terribly wrong.

He looked towards Lord Athos, and saw that his thoughts were mirrored on the Archsage's face. "This dragon…" he said aloud in a worried tone. "Surely…it can't be…"

"Lord Athos? Is something the matter?" Eliwood asked him.

_"Let me be the one to answer that question…"_ hissed an all-too-familiar voice.

Nergal appeared before them, a twisted smirk on his face. "Ninian proved useless. I've come to take Nils instead. He will do for me what his sister could not."

"Scum! I won't let you take Nils! We're going to rescue Ninian and bring you and your plans to ruin!" Eliwood growled angrily.

"Ah…Ninian…" Nergal sneered. "Let me ask you a few questions, Eliwood. Why do you think it was always Ninian and Nils that I hunted down all these years? Why them and only them? Hmm?"

Eliwood couldn't say a word. A shadow of fear at the truth was beginning to appear on his face.

"The answer is simple. The Dragon's Gate cannot be opened by humans. It was designed for dragons and only dragons."

Lloyd felt a wave of horror slam into his very being. He finally realized who the ice dragon was, and the revelation made him physically ill. He had felt this way only once before: when he had seen his father killed deep in the water temple. If he felt this sorrow for someone who had barely known Ninian, how terrible would it be for Eliwood?

"Can you not guess, Eliwood?" Nergal pressed forward ruthlessly. "Or are you just too afraid to acknowledge the truth? Then let me tell you. That ice dragon is Ninian…the girl you loved. The girl you swore to protect. She lost all her memory upon transforming back…all except her devotion to you! She came here to seek you…and you repaid her love by destroying her life! Go on, look! She is using her strength to transform into human form one last time."

"You foul demon!" Eliwood screamed in a mixture of rage, pain, and despair.

"Eliwood!" Hector yelled. "Calm down! Get a hold of yourself!"

Nergal laughed. "There may be time for you to exchange some final words. You know, of course," he sneered, "that it is too late to save her."

"Lo…lord Eliwood…" a small voice rasped.

Everyone turned to see Ninian raising her head. She weakly lifted her hand towards Eliwood, who immediately rushed to her side.

"Lord Eliwood…" Ninian whispered, her breathing ragged.

"Ninian!" Eliwood gasped out in horror. "Ninian…what have I done! I'm a fool! A worthless fool! I don't deserve your love! For-forgive me…I can't tell you how sorry I…I…" he broke off as his tears burst forward in guilt and despair.

"Eliwood…please…don't say such things…" Ninian tried to comfort the grief-stricken lord, gently stroking Eliwood's cheek. "Don't listen to…what Nergal is saying…it's not your fault…you didn't know…"

"Ninian…even if I had known…from the beginning…it would have meant nothing. I still love you…with all my heart…" Eliwood choked out.

A serene smile crossed Ninian's face. "Eliwood…I'm just glad…you're unharmed…and now that I know…what you've just told me…I can die…happy…thank…you…" She closed her eyes.

"Ninian…please, answer me!" Eliwood pleaded. "Ninian…Ninian… NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Nergal laughed. "Enough of this. You will all soon experience the end of the world you know at my hand! With Ninian's quintessence, I will soon be able to open the gate even without the help of that little brat Nils!"

"No!" Athos yelled, coming between Eliwood and Nergal. "I will see you burn in ash and flame! FORBLAZE!"

He raised his staff, and immediately a vortex of fire swirled between the two ancient mages. The vortex dispelled as the sky turned red and columns of fire burst down from the heavens. Everyone covered their eyes as a humongous wave of fire burst from the earth, engulfing Nergal completely. But when the spell had dissipated, Nergal still stood there, barely affected by the spell.

"What…" Athos gasped. "H…how? This can't be!"

Nergal laughed. "You see? Even the sacred fire can do nothing against me! Go and get your sacred weapons, it matters not! You are all doomed!"

"Never!" Dusk suddenly shouted. "As long as I draw breath, I will continue to oppose you to the end, Nergal!"

Nergal turned to address this new speaker…and abruptly his demeanor changed entirely. The cruel sneer on his face vanished instantly, and the look on his face turned into one of absolute rage. "You…" he snarled, his voice dripping with hatred. "I should have known it was you from the beginning, Dusk. Your hand guiding my enemies to victory after victory, your hand that saved Lloyd from Limstella, your hand thwarting all of my plans!"

"It's been a long time, hasn't it, Nergal?" Dusk responded, cold anger in his voice.

"A long time since you betrayed my trust. I gave you everything!" he spat violently. "Everything you ever learned about the dark arts, you learned from me! You have more power than most men could hope to have in their wildest dreams! And how did you repay me? YOU TURNED ME OVER TO ATHOS AND THOSE ARCADIAN FOOLS!" he screamed.

Everyone except Athos looked at Dusk in complete astonishment. Nergal had once been Dusk's master? No wonder he was so proficient with dark magic! And yet this raised just as many questions as it answered.

"The path you chose leads only to doom and destruction," replied Dusk calmly. "I have no more regret about interfering in your plans now than I did years ago."

"Then I will end your interference now! ERESHKIGAL!" Nergal roared. Darkness pulsated around him, similar to how it had when he had attacked Linus back in the Shrine of Seals. Everyone gasped in horror as a vortex of dark energy surrounded Dusk and exploded violently, just as it had done to Linus. When the darkness cleared, however, everyone saw that Dusk had stood firm against the spell. He was clearly hurt by the blast, but he had stood his ground nonetheless.

"Urrgh..." Dusk grunted, throwing Nergal a defiant look. "It'll take more than one Ereshkigal attack to bring me down, Nergal!"

Nergal returned with a contemptuous sneer. "I could destroy you now, but I have many more unpleasant surprises in store for you and your little band of fools. Consider this your warning. Out of respect for the men that you and Athos once were, I'll leave for now. But much worse is in store for you. I'll make sure of it!"

And with these last words, Nergal teleported away.

"Ni…Ninian?"

Everyone turned to look towards the waking Nils, the horror and grief returning to their faces. They had forgotten briefly that his sister had just been slain by the cruel hand of fate.

"Ninian?" Nils turned towards the three lords.

Hector looked away in discomfort, while Lyndis' face contorted into one of sorrow. "Your sister…she…" Lyndis began, but then she broke off as Nils looked upon his sister's dead body and realized the truth.

"N-Ninian?"

"Nils…" Eliwood spoke up with grief, "I'm so sorry…."

"NINIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNN!" Nils wailed as he wept over his sister.

Linus turned towards Legault and Lloyd. "We should leave them to their mourning," Linus said softly, the jovial tone completely gone from his voice. They both nodded, and all three vanished from the area. As Lloyd followed behind Legault and Linus, he bitterly thought to himself, "I never knew just how cruel irony could really be."

/

A/N: I always thought that there could have been more said between Eliwood and Ninian before Ninian passed on, so I modified it a little. I hope you guys like the little additions I made.

And speaking of additions, I bet none of you expected Dusk to be Nergal's former apprentice, did you? You're probably thinking that this causes a few plot and other issues, especially considering what I told you about Dusk's master in a previous chapter. But I assure you, all will be explained in the next chapter. Dusk did tell the truth...at least in his own way.

Since this is a very serious part of the FE7 storyline, expect there to be more focus on the main characters for the next few chapters.

Read and review please!


	19. Chapter 19 - Finding Light Again

A/N: Not really much for me to say…I don't want to start out with a lighthearted and humorous author's note considering what just happened last chapter. Although please note that Eliwood will be recovering from the despair caused by Ninian's death earlier than in the actual game thanks to a certain source…

Chapter 19 – Finding Light Again

Lloyd had never seen the entire army so gloomy before this day. Everyone, from the normally loudmouthed Serra to the stubborn Bartre, felt the weight of Ninian's death upon them as the news spread around the camp like a wildfire. As he passed one tent, he could see the orchid-haired falcoknight Florina sob uncontrollably onto Lord Hector's chest, while the lord himself wrapped an arm around her shoulder trying to comfort her. Clearly she had been one of the ones hit hardest by the tragedy.

"I guess Linus won our little bet," Lloyd thought almost offhandedly, but he shook the thought aside immediately. This was not the time to focus on who had won insignificant wagers. Besides, if he knew Linus and Legault, they would already have figured out the answer.

A few moments of seemingly aimless walking later, he found Dusk sitting outside of his tent and decided to approach him. "Dusk?"

"Yes, Lloyd?" Dusk looked up, his tone exhausted.

"Why did you lie to me and Linus?" Lloyd asked quietly. He didn't feel particularly angry or cheated, since he probably would've done the same if his master had been a depraved maniac bent on mass murder and the destruction of worlds. All the same, he felt like he had a right to know. "You told us that your master was killed by Nergal in his mad quest for power. You never told us that your master was Nergal to begin with."

"…I'm sorry, Lloyd," Dusk apologized after a long moment of silence. "I would have told you from the beginning, but I had my reasons. However, I was not dishonest when I told you what I said, at least not entirely. Nergal was not always the wretched fiend that we now face. He was once a good man, and I was honored to be his student. But in the end, his experiments with dark magic and quintessence consumed him, and when he first took an innocent human life I knew that he had fallen beyond redemption."

"…so in a sense, Nergal did die. The goodness within him, the person you used to know, perished many years ago," Lloyd responded, to which Dusk nodded solemnly in agreement. "But what part did you have in his first downfall? And how do you still look so young?"

"…that I do not wish to tell you now, Lloyd, only because it would not be fair for you to know and no one else," Dusk gently cut him off. "But I will reveal all once we arrive at Ostia. That is our next destination, since Lord Hector figures that we could all use some rest and respite."

"I could use that, I suppose," Lloyd answered, with a bitter humor. "Heaven knows we all could."

Lloyd turned and walked back towards his tent. As he walked away, Lyndis came up to Dusk and sat next to him. Dusk merely nodded to acknowledge that her presence.

"Are you all right, Dusk?" she asked in a worried tone.

Dusk shook his head. "I don't think any of us are. Ninian was a light and a joy for all of us, and her death has hit everyone hard. But Eliwood's current emotional status especially concerns me. I saw him head off alone into the woods without a weapon. He had given Durandal to Athos almost as though he were disgusted by the sword, which is no surprise given what has just happened. I'm not sure if he has the will to continue."

Lyndis gently clasped Dusk's hand. "You and I both know Eliwood. He may be crushed by Ninian's death, but he won't let that affect our mission to save the world from Nergal's horrifying plan. If anything, in the end he'll be more motivated than ever to see Nergal destroyed."

"I hope you are right, Lyn…" Dusk murmured softly.

"I can tell that this is affecting you personally. Don't let it," she comforted Dusk gently. "This horrible tragedy doesn't reflect your skill as a tactician or who you are as a person. Not even Lord Athos predicted that this would happen. You're the best tactician and one of the most selfless, kindhearted people I've ever met. Without you, I would never have rescued my grandfather and Nergal would have succeeded a long time ago." She gave him a quick hug. "You'll pull us through this, I know you will."

As she drew back, she saw with relief that a fire of determination had rekindled in Dusk's eyes. "You're right," he said, his voice strong again. "We've foiled Nergal's plans before, and we'll do it again! Right, Lyndis?"

Lyn smiled in spite of everything. "I'll be behind you, Dusk. Every step of the way."

/

Eliwood stood alone in the woods, staring morosely at the scenery around him. His father's death had been bad enough, but now with Ninian's death, at his hands no less, it was just too much for him to bear.

"AAAAARRRRGGHHHH…" he suddenly screamed out in anger and despair. "Why Ninian? Why my father? They were innocent people who should never have died! Why couldn't you have taken me instead? I'm a worthless failure! Every person I've cared for and sworn to protect has ended up dead! It's all my fault!"

Eliwood sank down to his knees as his rage faded away, leaving only his sorrow. "I can't do this anymore. I just can't…"

"You have to, Lord Eliwood…" a small voice softly murmured behind him.

Eliwood looked up and saw, to his dismay, Nils standing a little to one side. "Great…" he thought sarcastically to himself, "the last person I wanted to see."

"Are you all right?" Nils asked, concern in his voice and his eyes.

"How do you not hate me, Nils?" the redhaired lord asked him.

"Hate…you?" the bard asked, confused.

"How do you not hate me for what just happened?" Eliwood repeated more forcefully. "I just killed your sister! She loved me with all her heart, and all I gave back was death as a reward! Nergal was right! I am a failure!"

"I did, at first…" Nils whispered.

Eliwood stopped talking. "What?"

"When I first saw Ninian's dead body and you holding Durandal, I was just as furious as I was grief-stricken. There was a particularly dangerous moment when I thought I was going to turn into a dragon myself and come after you in a rage. But then I remembered everything that you and your father had done for us."

"Which is?" Eliwood pressed, but this time more out of curiosity than sadness or anger.

"When we were trapped by Nergal, Lord Elbert was our only source of comfort. He told us stories about Lycia, his life in Pherae, his family, you…these stories were our link to the outside world, and they gave us hope and peace even as we were surrounded by Nergal's forces," Nils explained. "If I kept hating you, knowing that ultimately it was Nergal who had caused Ninian's death, I would be spitting on your father's grave."

"And what about me?" Eliwood asked.

Nils gave the Knight Lord a grateful smile. "You did more for my sister than anybody else had done for her, even Lord Elbert. You saved her in Caelin, I still remember that. And when your father died…never once did you blame us for his death, even though it was through her that Ephidel and Nergal killed him. And I've been watching her carefully ever since she joined your army along with me. When she was with you, it was the happiest that I've ever seen her. She was clearly in love with you, and when you returned her feelings it gave her joy beyond what I could comprehend."

Eliwood had finally calmed down enough to give Nils a smile of appreciation. "I'm glad I was able to make your sister happy for such a short time…"

"There's one more reason," Nils added, "and to me this one is the most important one of all. A few minutes after I had finished grieving, Lord Athos visited my tent. He told me what you said to Ninian as she died…that her being a dragon didn't affect your love for her. Of all the people I've met in my entire life, both human and dragon, you're one of the rare few who didn't hold any prejudice against the other race. Acceptance is something that both Ninian and I rarely ever found, and since you gave so much of it to us without restraint…it's only fair I give you forgiveness in return. And I know it wasn't really your fault, Lord Eliwood. Don't let Nergal fool you into thinking otherwise."

For the first time since Ninian's death, resolve and hope began to return to his eyes. "Thank you, Nils. Hearing what you just said to me gave me hope again. I'll continue to grieve for Ninian as is only right, but the shadow of defeat and despair has gone thanks to you." He wiped away his tears. "I couldn't forgive myself ever since it happened. Only you could have done that."

Nils nodded. "If you truly wish to repent for my sister's death, see that you pursue Nergal to the ends of the earth and bring him justice. I want to see him destroyed more than ever now, and you're one of the few people in this army with strength enough to do it."

Eliwood stood up and straightened himself. "You can count on me, Nils! I'll make Nergal rue the day he ever interfered with our lives!"

/

Hector stared a bit awkwardly at Florina as she finally dried her tears. He wasn't surprised that she was weeping over Ninian's death; the two had been very close friends. What had surprised him was the fact that of all the people to whom she could have turned to, Florina had chosen HIM. Him, the loud-mouthed lord of Ostia and arguably one of the most physically intimidating men in the army.

"A-are you all right, Florina?" he asked, his normally booming voice uncharacteristically soft.

Florina nodded. "I-I'm o-okay, L-lord Hector…" she gave him a small smile. "Th-thanks for b-being here for me…"

Hector nodded. "Anytime, Florina. That's what friends are for. But why did you choose me over your sisters or anybody else, for that matter? You used to always run away from me before I even came close."

Florina giggled awkwardly. "Th-that was b-before I realized wh-what kind of person you r-really are. Once I a-actually got over some of my fear, I r-realized y-you're such a l-loyal and k-kind friend, and I c-can't turn to my sisters or Lyn a-all the time," she stammered, a bit embarrassed.

"I understand," he said gently. "If you ever need anything, I'll always be there for you to talk to. Oh, and can you do me a favor?"

"Of-of course," she nodded.

"Could you keep your sisters and Lyn off me? They look like they're getting ready to kill me every time I come near you," Hector asked a bit jokingly.

Florina giggled again. "I-I'll try."

As Hector and Florina left the tent, a pair of eyes hidden in a bush watched the two of them make their way towards Florina's tent. The figure grinned as he saw the falcoknight bid farewell to the blue-haired lord and disappear inside her tent. "Things just got a LOT more interesting…"

/

"I'm sure that Nergal will have some unpleasant surprise waiting for us on the way to Ostia," Dusk instructed Lloyd and Linus, "so I want you two to organize some scouting patrols both in front of and behind us. Now would be a great time for Nergal to strike us, with our morale so low. Try to use other members of our army rather than the Black Fang, it would be good for you to interact with some of us more."

Suddenly, Eliwood strode into the command tent. The grief was still clear in his face, but there was now a determined look was in his eyes that wasn't there before. "Dusk, I have an order for you."

"What can I do for you, Eliwood?" Dusk asked. Secretly, he was just as shocked as Lloyd and Linus that he wasn't still despairing over Ninian's death.

"I want you to make sure that the morale of our army remains high," Eliwood continued. "All of us were affected drastically by it, but if Nergal manages to crush our morale then he has already won. It would be a disgrace to Ninian's memory to let him achieve victory like that, when she worked so hard to motivate us. Keep the army going, Dusk. Don't let my sorrow bring everyone else down."

Dusk nodded. "Very well. Strength in battle is meaningless without the resolve to support it. I will find ways to restore the happiness of the army. Leave that to me."

Eliwood nodded and left the tent without a word.

"He got over his girlfriend's death rather quickly," Linus commented. Lloyd jabbed his elbow into his brother's arm. "Ow!"

Dusk ignored the rather flippant remark. "There was only one person who could have brought Eliwood out of his depression…but never mind that. Form the search parties and scout out the surrounding area. We march to Ostia starting tomorrow."

/

A/N: Whew! This was quite a long chapter to write! I hope that I didn't make anybody seem OOC by accident. And I'd like to think that there was a brief period of time in the actual storyline which Eliwood and Nils have a private talk and Nils forgives Eliwood for his accidental killing of Ninian.

I wanted to have both seriousness and a bit of humor in this chapter. After all, the chapter is named what it is for a reason. I hope I successfully incorporated both.

After a huge inner conflict, I have decided to write three different versions of the final battle with Nergal since so many people want and have the rights to dibs on our favorite Dark Druid XD. In each version, a different person or group of people will face off against Nergal and defeat him. And yes, Dusk will feature in one of the versions.

Read and review please!


	20. Chapter 20 - The Battle for Ostia

A/N: Hey guys! Sorry about the delay and the lack of responses, comp problems ftw.

Also, I had my college midterms and essays to worry about. Fun.

Ch. 20 – The Battle for Ostia

"It's good to be home again!" Hector cried out cheerfully as the army trudged into Castle Ostia. He turned and grinned at Linus. "Soon, Linus, you'll be experiencing true Ostian hospitality courtesy of my brother!"

"As long as your Ostian hospitality includes some good food, that's all I'll need," Linus replied back laughing. "Speaking of which, where is your brother? I would've expected him to come out and greet you."

"Hmm…good point…" Hector muttered. "Oswin?" he asked his general, "what happened to my brother?"

"Lord Uther had to leave for a conference shortly before you arrived, Lord Hector," a soldier answered for Oswin. "He told me to inform you that he may not be back for a while."

"Curses!" Hector groaned. "I was looking forward to telling him about all of your adventures!" As he turned away, Oswin and the soldier glanced at each other. A strange look passed each other's faces. It was only there for a brief second, but Lloyd caught it nonetheless.

"Something's not right," he thought to himself. "There's something that Hector's forces aren't telling him. But what could it be?"

"Come inside!" Hector was yelling out to the rest of the army. "Tonight we shall eat and rest! Tomorrow, we will go after that blackheart Nergal and take him down once and for all!"

Everyone cheered at this proclamation, and Lloyd forced himself to put the Ostians' secret to the back of his mind. "Their secret is not my business," he thought, "and now's not the time for this anyway." Yet he could not shake off the unease that he felt about the missing Lord Uther.

/

After a superior meal, many of the army had retired to their rooms for the night. Linus, however, was growing restless and was wandering around Castle Ostia when he accidentally bumped into a yellow-haired Hero in light-blue armor.

"Excuse me!" he apologized when they had both gotten their bearings. "I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going."

"Think nothing of it," the other hero replied. "My name is Harken of Pherae. May I ask who you are?"

"I'm Linus Reed, Rabid Hound of the Black Fang and younger son of Brendan Reed. An honor to meet you."

Harken nodded. "I have heard that you are a master of the sword and the axe. Would you care for a quick spar in both?"

Linus grinned. "I can't sleep anyway. Sure, why not?"

/

The two had been sparring for over an hour. Their battles had been close, but Linus was able to score narrow victories most of the time. Harken sighed as he found himself disarmed again.

"I guess I should be used to defeat by now, considering how much of a failure I am."

Linus looked up in surprise. "Are you kidding? You're the first guy I've fought in months who's given me a real run for my money!"

Harken sighed. "I'm not talking about just the art of battle. I failed to protect my lord and brought great shame upon myself."

"What do you mean by that?" Linus asked, putting his sword away.

"Do you know about Eliwood's father, Lord Elbert?" Harken asked. Linus nodded; Eliwood had told him and Lloyd about what had happened prior to their recruitment. "I was part of the Lord Elbert's original retinue when he left to stop Nergal's plans. We travelled first to Castle Laus, since Lord Elbert had discovered beforehand that Lord Darin was working with the Black Fang."

Tears of pain and shame appeared in Harken's eyes. "It was a slaughter. Nergal summoned some of his most powerful warriors to attack us. All of us were slain…except for Lord Elbert and me. I tried to stop them from taking Lord Elbert, but…they just kept coming. As hard as I fought, I couldn't reach him before Nergal grabbed him and teleported away to the Dread Isle." He looked up at Linus. "I swore to protect my lord, and I failed to keep him safe. I should've died rather than live in shame for my failure."

Linus put his hand on Harken's back sympathetically. "You're not the only one guilty of failure, and in many ways I'm even worse than you are. You at least had noble intentions and tried to fulfill your oath to the last, but I abandoned them for my own folly. My family means everything to me, and yet I couldn't save them from that wretch Sonia. I knew she was trouble the moment I saw her, and yet my father had fallen hopelessly in love with her. I should've confronted my father, forced him to see the truth." He spat on the ground in self-disgust. "Instead I wasted precious days trying to kill the people who saved Lloyd from destruction."

"But I've moved on from that. I'm not here just because I want to see Nergal destroyed or because the Lycian Alliance saved my brother from destruction. This is my redemption, serving Eliwood, Hector, and Lyndis. I want to make my father proud knowing that I'm serving the right cause this time. And I will serve that cause to victory or death."

Harken stared into the sky for several seconds, and then his resolve hardened. "You're right, Linus," he said determinedly. "Lord Elbert wouldn't want me to wallow in self-pity. Lord Eliwood and Isadora have told me this repeatedly. I may have failed Lord Elbert, but I'll make up for it by serving his son with my life. I will die before I see Lord Eliwood on a funeral pyre. I swear it!"

Linus grinned. "That's the spirit, Harken!"

Suddenly, Igor burst into the room, panic etched all over his face. "Lord Linus! We need you at once! The castle is under attack! By a huge army!"

Linus and Harken looked at each other, alarmed. They drew their swords and hurriedly followed Igor to the main throne room.

/

"How did this army get into the castle?" Dusk asked one of the Ostian guards who had been posted in the outer courtyard.

"They…they teleported in! By some fell magic! Before we knew it, they were slaughtering our forces!"

"Nergal…" growled Hector furiously. After news had reached about the invading army, the few people awake had roused the rest of the army.

"Fortunately, we have some of the Ostian guard stationed in the palace," Oswin informed everyone. "However, they were never trained to fight an invading army! If we don't help them, they will soon be overrun."

"Are there any Black Fang members around to aid us?" Dusk turned to Lloyd.

Lloyd shook his head. "Most of them retired to the guest rooms at the rear of the palace. By the time I roused them the army will have already broken in. However, I know that some of the senior Black Fang magic users are practicing in a room close to here. Should I rally them?"

"Go," instructed Dusk, "we need all the help we can get before they break in."

He turned to Oswin. "Can you describe this army to me?"

"There are several dark magic users and bowmen, along with a few other fighters of different classes," Oswin replied. "And there's something else…"

"What?" Dusk pressed.

Oswin suddenly looked nervous. "These soldiers were described as…emotionless. Fighting mechanically and without mercy. The Ostian guard described them as pale, with dark hair…and golden eyes."

Dusk paled visibly. "No…" he whispered, "it cannot be…how you have fallen, my old master…"

"What is it?" Lyndis asked, concern in her eyes.

He shook his head vigorously. "It matters not…" he replied quickly, "but I must insist on this. Show absolutely no mercy to our enemies, for you shall receive none. The forces we face are not entirely…human."

Everyone looked at each other apprehensively, but before anyone could press the matter a door burst open and several Black Fang sages and druids appeared, holding staves and tomes. Lloyd was following close behind. "We are at your command," one of the druids informed Dusk.

Dusk nodded. "Some of you stay in the throne room. Others will follow some of our army to a side corridor where others of Nergal's forces could attack. Make haste! They will be on us soon!"

Everyone hastened to their battle positions. As Igor passed Linus, the Rabid Hound suddenly motioned and stopped Igor in his tracks. "Hey, Igor," Linus began, "you've served our family loyally for many months now, and it's about time I give you this as a reward." He reached into his pocket and took out a Hero Crest, much to the shock of Igor.

"You…you think I'm ready, commander?" Igor stuttered.

Linus nodded. "It's about time you got a promotion, Igor. You deserve it."

Igor took the object and suddenly glowed brightly as the magic within the crest enveloped him a bright light. When it had faded, Igor was now wearing the robes of a swordmaster and looked ready for battle.

Igor saluted with his sword. "Thank you, Lord Linus. I will not fail you in this battle!"

Linus grinned and returned the salute. "You better not, Igor! If you die I'm going to kill you!"

Igor nodded and hurriedly got into battle position along with the rest of Eliwood's army.

"Here they come!" yelled an Ostian guard. Seconds later, a huge crash could be heard as the main gate to Castle Ostia burst open and enemy soldiers piled in.

/

A volley of arrows flew towards the defenders. As they approached, Hector could see a purple liquid tinted onto them. "Watch out!" he yelled. "Those weapons are poisoned! Get ready to block or dodge them!"

Oswin, Raven, Linus, and Harken all stepped in front of the rest of their forces. Oswin deflected some of the arrows off of his armor as they bounced harmlessly to the side while the heroes blocked the rest of the arrows with their shields. They protected the rest of Eliwood's forces with ease, but some of the Ostian guard had not been so lucky. The knights gasped in pain as the arrows struck them, which only intensified as the venom came into effect. Some of the Black Fang sages were able to cure the poison from them with Restore staffs, but several knights of the Ostian guard were already beginning to succumb to their poisoned wounds.

The Lycian army began retaliating with their own attacks. Linus hurled his tomahawk at a sniper, which smashed into his chest. Other arrows from Rath and Rebecca struck several archers who had been in the middle of drawing their arrows. All of them fell to the ground without a sound, something that unnerved Linus greatly. No matter how brave or fierce they were, soldiers always gave out some cry of pain whenever they were slain in battle, and yet they had given no reaction whatsoever! He was beginning to think that Dusk was right about their enemies not being human.

The sound of explosions brought Linus back to the battle. He could see that the Black Fang mages had begun firing back with their own spells. Several enemy archers were blown apart by the sages' great blasts of fire and lightning, while others were being torn apart by the druids' Nosferatu and Luna attacks. Even Dusk had joined the fray, using a Fenrir spell to completely incinerate an enemy shaman with purple flames. Linus started attacking his foes with renewed vigor, cutting down several nearby archers.

Meanwhile, Lloyd had been firing at his foes from a distance using his older Light Brand. Out of the corner of his eye, one of the enemy druids stepped forward and held out a staff, which glowed with an orange light. Suddenly, a wave of fury washed over him, attempting to fill his mind with nothing but unrelenting rage.

"No!" his mind fought back. "I won't give in to this! I'm not going to let myself hurt everyone I care about!"

"_Yes…," _a voice seemed to hiss into his mind, _"give into your rage! Unleash your full fury!"_

"I WON'T!" Lloyd screamed within his mind. He shook his head vigorously until at last the voice faded entirely. While he was struggling, Priscilla had been watching him nearby. Realizing what was happening, she took out a Silence staff and pointed it at the druid who had cast the Berserk spell on Lloyd. A prism of pink light seemed to engulf the enemy druid, silencing him and leaving him helpless. Dusk and one of the allied sages instantly took advantage of this; the force of a combined Eclipse and Bolting spell tore him to shreds within seconds.

"Are you all right?" Priscilla asked Lloyd, concern and worry in her voice.

"I'm fine," he replied. "Let's refocus on the battle at hand!"

Priscilla nodded and turned back to the fight, Elfire tome in hand as she called down balls of scorching flames on the enemy. By now, the first wave of enemies had been shot or blasted down, and they were now starting to advance out of the throne room.

/

Oswin and Matthew quickly made their way down a smaller corridor to the west, when suddenly a Swordmaster stepped in front of them. The Swordmaster struck fiercely at the Ostian general, but Oswin stood his ground and deflected the blade with his lance, shoving his opponent roughly onto the ground. The swordmaster attempted to get up, but Matthew quickly dispatched him with a slice to the throat.

"We can't let our treasures get into Nergal's hands," Oswin quickly spoke to Matthew. "Can you get some of them out before the enemy loots them?"

"I thought you'd never asked," Matthew responded, already opening the door to the treasure room. A shaman attempted to flux him, but the thief tore him open without so much as a sweat.

By now, Oswin could see that his fellow defenders had advanced past the rear half of the main hallway. Although they may have been emotionless warriors fighting to the death, their enemies were simply not powerful enough to stand against them and their numbers were dwindling.

Suddenly, an arrow zoomed by Oswin's head, embedding itself deep into the wall behind him. Everyone turned to see a sniper dressed in a purple cloak, holding a shining silver bow in his hand.

"This is a message from Lord Nergal," the sniper spoke monotonously, "I await you on the Dread Isle. This is a message from Lord Nergal: I await you on the Dread Isle."

Lloyd shuddered at the voice. It was completely lifeless, the type of voice that would have fit a corpse. The sniper himself showed no fear, cruelty, rage, resolve, or any other type of emotion associated with battle almost as though he were completely oblivious to his surroundings. As Lloyd watched stunned, the figure drew another arrow and fired at one of his sages, who fell with a cry as the arrow entered his flesh.

That brought Lloyd back into action. With restored battle fury, he began cutting down enemies left and right as he attempted to approach the sniper that had to be the commander of the enemy army.

However, someone else got there first. Hector rushed forward to confront him as he shook the remains of a general that he had just killed off with his Wolf Beil.

The sniper turned to confront Hector. "This is a message from Lord Nergal, I await you on the Dread Isle."

"You dare to attack Castle Ostia, my own home!" Hector yelled furiously. "Is that all you have to say?"

"This is a message from Lord Nergal, I await you on the Dread Isle. This is a message from Lord Nergal, I await you on the Dread Isle."

"Here's a message for Nergal," Hector snarled. "We're coming for him, and we're going to destroy him for every single crime that he's committed!"

With a roar, he gripped his Wolf Beil and swung it at the sniper. The axe cut deep into the sniper's shoulder, tearing a huge gash. The sniper attempted to retreat in order to find more room to fire an arrow, but Hector never gave him a chance. He repeatedly hacked and swung at him with his mighty axe until, finally, the figure collapsed onto the ground defeated.

"This is…a mes...sage…from…Lord…Ner…gal…" the sniper spluttered out before his head hit the ground, lifeless.

Hector reached out to reclaim his axe. As he did so, Lloyd saw, to his horror, a sniper poised to aim an arrow at the Ostian lord.

"Look out!" Lloyd yelled. Hector looked up in shock, but before he could move to dodge the incoming arrow, a blur whizzed through the air and the sniper fell with a lance in his chest. Florina had dived in just in time to save Hector.

"Are…are you all r-right, L-lord Hector?" Florina asked worriedly.

Hector gave her an encouraging smile. "You just saved my life, Florina! Nice work! I knew I could count on you!" Lloyd gave the falcoknight an approving nod; although he didn't know Fiora's youngest sister that well, she deserved recognition for her action and he didn't want to scare her off by accident. Although…the fact that she had overcome her fear or archers to save one of the most intimidating men in the army said volumes in and of itself…

At that moment, the doors to the palace burst open again and thousands of men wearing Ostian armor stormed into the keep. "Lord Hector!" one of them yelled. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, men!" Hector yelled back. "Do your duty to Ostia and get rid of these intruders!"

"Yes, sir!" the officer responded back. "You heard him, men! Cleanse Castle Ostia of its enemies and protect Lord Hector!"

At the same time, the doors close to the back of the palace burst open as the rest of the Black Fang arrived. One of the druids, despite Lloyd's misgivings, had taken it on himself to alert the rest of the Black Fang to the invasion. Between the reconsolidated Black Fang forces and the Ostian reinforcements, the invading army didn't stand a chance.

After the last invader had finally been slain, Hector turned to Dusk. "What the hell…" he asked roughly. "What were those things? They didn't act like humans at all! No expressions of pain, no emotion in their faces? What devilry did Nergal fling at us?"

Dusk sighed. "It is time I tell you everything. Not just about these creatures, but also about Lord Athos' and my past. Gather everyone in the army together. The full truth shall soon be revealed."

/

A/N: Feels so good to have the first batch of midterms and finals out of the way! Whoo! Now I can get back to writing!

Anybody looking forward to learning about Dusk and how he became Nergal's apprentice? As Dusk himself just said, the next chapter will reveal everything!

Read and review please!


	21. Chapter 21 - The Past Revealed (Part 1)

A/N: It's been a while, hasn't it guys? Anyway, on to the next chapter! We finally get to learn about Dusk's, Athos', and Nergal's past! I will be dividing this into two chapters because there's a lot to cover.

Chapter 21 – The Past Revealed (Part 1)

"So what were all of these things, Greybeard?" Hector asked once everyone had settled down.

"I had long suspected it, but this attack has confirmed my suspicions" Athos answered. "These are his morphs."

"It's true, isn't it?" Lyndis asked. Realization dawned on her face. "Wait a minute…that man on Valor, Ephidel…Black Fang's Sonia, too…are you saying Nergal MADE them all?"

"Hold on!" Linus suddenly spluttered. "You're telling me that my father was married to…to…That's just sick!" he yelled.

"No wonder she kept fawning over Nergal," Lloyd growled, similarly disgusted at the idea that his stepmother had been some puppet designed by Nergal, not even human.

"Morphs are an abomination," Athos agreed. "A crime against all that is natural. When Nergal began using them, he had grown beyond our ability to control."

"Hold up, Greybeard," Hector suddenly interrupted, "You never told us about how you met Nergal centuries ago! You and Dusk have been hiding stuff from us both, and I think it's time that you tell us everything considering what we've been through!"

"Hector is right, Lord Athos," Dusk agreed. "I did make that promise."

"Hmm…very well, then. I will start with when I first met Nergal."

Athos sighed wearily. "After the Scouring had finally been won, I retreated to the depths of the Nabata Desert. Mankind may praise me as a hero, but I do not deserve that title. The Scouring should never have happened, and every dragon that I was forced to slay was a life needlessly destroyed. I did not want to be forever reminded of such brutality, so I departed to the desert to live my life in solitude and peace."

"I never understood why the Scouring happened in the first place. Dragons and humans lived in peace before it happened. What started such a brutal war in the first place?" Eliwood asked.

"The true cause may never be known, Eliwood," Athos answered, "but if I believe that it was caused by a desire for domination over the land. Maybe it was because resources were running out and only one race would be able to survive. Maybe it was simply a lust for power. Even I do not remember."

"I see," Eliwood murmured silently.

"I commend you for asking that question, young one. It shows how much you care about Ninian," Athos gently complimented. He then continued, "Although I lived mostly within the home that you visited, when I was younger I occasionally wandered the Desert. It was on one of these excursions that I met Nergal, who also was wandering. In each other we recognized great magical talent and intellect, and we soon became fast friends."

"What was Nergal like back then?" Lyndis asked.

"He was nothing like the madman who has become our greatest enemy," Athos replied sadly. "He was a brilliant individual who had explored the vast power of magic as thoroughly as I had. Unlike me, his undying fascination was with dark magic, although at the time he only followed the conventional aspects of dark magic. Together, we explored Nabata until we discovered something that we did not believe to be possible."

"Arcadia," Dusk said quietly.

"Arcadia," Athos agreed. "It was a truly marvelous place. Not because it had majestic buildings or a bustling population, for in truth it was merely a simple village on an oasis. However, what made it so beautiful was the fact that here alone, among all the places in the world, dragons and humans lived together in peace."

"WHAT?" everyone exclaimed in shock.

"Yes," Athos nodded. "I could not believe it myself at first. But there before me was hope that dragons and humans could still coexist without hatred or strife. Nergal and I both recognized that this was a special place that should not be tainted by the outside world, and so together we created a barrier to protect the village."

"Sounds a lot different from the Nergal we know," Linus thought aloud. "The Nergal we know would've probably tried to destroy the village and kill everyone in it."

"You are probably right," Athos sighed sadly, "and it grieves me deeply to see how far my friend has fallen. But in those happier times, we were both welcomed by the dragons and humans of Arcadia, and they gave us free reign to explore their knowledge in magic."

"So the dragons didn't spite you for slaying their kin in the Scouring?" Erk asked.

Athos shook his head. "Thankfully, no. I think they understood that I was not a willing participant in the slaughter, merely someone who was fighting to protect their species. This is why I was especially thankful for the dragons' generous offer, but there Nergal's path and mine began to differ. While I wanted to use my powers to spread this paradise across Elibe, Nergal turned to the ancient knowledge of the dragons for power. He never gave details as to why he sought that power even to me, only that it had something to do with bringing his family together."

"It was there that I met Nergal, when he first entered the ancient archives of the dragons," Dusk finally spoke up. "I was one of the scholars studying dark magic, although I was no more than a shaman at the time. Unlike other shamans, I had been studying independently without a master to guide me. Until I met Nergal, that is…" as Dusk continued speaking, the memory of the day that he had first met the Dark Druid washed over him and flooded his mind.

(Flashback – Arcadia)

"_It's been a long day!" a young Dusk thought wearily but excitedly as he put back the Flux tome that he had been practicing with. "But it was worth every minute of it! I can't believe I finally got the hang of Flux! They told me that I wouldn't be able to learn anything without a master to guide me, but I'll prove them wrong!"_

_Suddenly, a shadow looming over Dusk. Slightly nervous, Dusk looked up to see a man with green hair and majestic-looking Druid's robes looking down at him. "H-hello! You're that Druid who put the barrier up around Arcadia last week, aren't you?" Dusk greeted the man a bit uneasily._

"_That is correct, young one! Hello there!" the man greeted the young Dusk kindly. "May I ask what you're looking at?"_

"_It's a Flux tome!" Dusk answered, his anxiety slowly giving way to pride. "I'm studying magic all by myself."_

"_Indeed?" the man asked curiously. "Most people can barely learn the basics of dark magic, let alone without a master. Why have you chosen to learn elder magic without someone to guide you?_

"_All of the other druids in Arcadia have apprentices already. I've tried going to all of them, but they won't take me in. So, I decided to teach myself!"_

"_You certainly have the initiative, young one," the man replied, laughing. "Would you care to show me your skill?"_

"_Sure!" Dusk replied cheerfully. He and the man left the training ground, while the man looked for a target that was far away from the village, in case Dusk's attack missed._

"_Try to hit that tree over there," the man ordered, pointing to a tree that was distant but not too far from where they stood. Dusk nodded and closed his eyes, focusing his power. A small orb of darkness appeared between his hands, then solidified and then dissolved into the ground. When the orb resurfaced and struck the tree, it had been significantly damaged but not destroyed outright. However, the man seemed very pleased and impressed with Dusk's accomplishment._

"_Very impressive!" the man commented at the skill the boy had displayed. "I can already sense that you have great potential. However, I can show you much more. You see, I am a dark magic user as well, but I am a Druid who has studied dark magic for many years. I could teach you not only how to use all of the tomes of darkness, but I can bring your power far beyond that of an average dark mage. Would you like to be my apprentice, young one? And what is your name, if I may ask?"_

"_Really?" Dusk looked up eagerly. "You can teach me how to become the best druid ever?"_

"_Well, I wouldn't necessarily say that. I'm your competition for starters," the man laughed. "But I can promise that you will become great some day."_

"_I'm all for it!" Dusk shouted happily. "My name's Dusk, by the way. What's yours?"_

_The man smiled. "Nergal," he replied._

(End Flashback)

"Nergal delivered on every promise that he had made," Dusk finished. "He rigorously trained me in every tome of dark magic, and never proceeded to more advanced spells until he was satisfied that I had fully mastered the ones before. Under him, my skill of dark magic surpassed the rest of the training shamans in Arcadia to the point that I was already learning Eclipse while other students were still struggling with Flux. Constantly, he reminded me that I should use my powers only for good and to help others, and that I should never let the darkness fully control me."

"How ironic that he was the one to fall to darkness in the end," Canas commented.

"For many years, we lived in peace," Athos spoke again. "Dusk learned much under Nergal's tutelage, and each one of us privately pursued different branches of magic. But such peaceful times would not last, for Nergal's personality began to change inexplicably."

"So that was the beginning of the end, then?" Lloyd asked.

"Not quite, although that time was not far off. Nergal had not turned evil yet, but his behavior became strange. He became less focused on our lessons to the point that he would cancel them more and more frequently," Dusk explained. "He began to shun our company, always claiming that he was on the verge of a great discovery and that he needed to be alone. Although I was confused by his demands for solitude, I did not question it."

He sighed. "Neither of us could have foreseen that this discovery that he so doggedly pursued would not only destroy our friendship, but also corrupt a good man and transform him into an immoral monster."

/

A/N: And that wraps up the first part of the past revealed! Keep reading and reviewing for part 2!

Also, I'd like to note that until I finish my freshman year of college, I will likely not be updating my story as frequently and possibly not at all. Don't worry, however – I will NOT forget this fic!


	22. Chapter 22 - The Past Revealed (Part 2)

A/N: Whoo, it's been a while hasn't it? Fortunately, all of my main assignments are done for now, which means we can move on with writing!

Warning: mild animal "violence"…I used mice since people feel very strongly about more common household pets and I do not want to cause too much offense. Mice I don't have as much of an issue writing about.

Chapter 22 – The Past Revealed (Part 2)

"Although Nergal had become increasingly distracted, he still trained me far more extensively than any other druid in Arcadia," Dusk continued. "I had already started learning the Fenrir tome when other shamans were still struggling with Nosferatu. He bestowed upon me a Guiding Ring when it was clear that I had reached the height of my peak as a shaman."

"I remember that day," Athos commented fondly. "We were both so proud of this apprentice who had progressed so far in such a short time. But Dusk told me soon afterwards that Nergal had finally decided to reveal his experiment to him as a sign of his respect…and everything came crashing down from there."

(Flashback – Arcadia)

"_Master?" Dusk pounded on Nergal's door with his fist, irritation clear in his voice. "You have trained with me for almost a week, master! I know that I'm a druid now, but you said that there was still more to teach me! Master?"_

_Suddenly, the door sprang open, and Nergal strode out with an excited look on his face. "Dusk!" he exclaimed happily. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you! I have finally mastered the basics of that little experiment I was working on, and as a sign of respect for your new status as a Druid it's time that I show you what I can do!"_

_Dusk was struck dumb for a second, but then he shook his stupor off. "Sure! I'd be glad to know what you've been up to, master. I've been wondering for quite a while now."_

_Nergal invited Dusk into his small home, and then shut and locked the door behind him. "Uh…master? Why have you locked the door behind us?"_

_Nergal tensed. "Because…well, because I'm not sure that the others in the village would approve. What I'm working on isn't…exactly...a popular branch of magic. If I show this to you, you must promise me that you will not reveal what you have seen to anyone."_

_Dusk hesitated. This wasn't like Nergal…he was usually very open and eager to share his magical knowledge with others. But ever since this experiment had started…he had become more secretive and mysterious even to his closest friends. Still, he could see no harm in keeping what he was about to see secret. "All right…I promise," he finally agreed._

_Nergal relaxed considerably. "Good…" he nodded. "And now, allow me to demonstrate my great experiment!" He turned to the middle of the room, and only now did Dusk notice the cage stationed. Inside that cage were three mice fretting around frantically."_

"_For many months now," Nergal explained, "I have been studying the properties of what the dragons call quintessence. This quintessence is the life force of all living things on earth, ranging from the smallest flea to the mightiest dragon. Through my studies, I have discovered a way using elder magic to extract the quintessence from a creature and turn it into raw power. Watch this!"_

_Dusk watched as Nergal began chanting an ancient tongue. This wasn't an incantation that he had ever heard before, so he couldn't have replicated the spell even if he tried. As Nergal continued the spell, a light-blue glow surrounded the three mice in the cage. Suddenly, beams of light shot out from the three mice and enveloped Nergal, making him glow brightly as well. When the spell finished and the light died down, Dusk saw to his horror that the three mice in the cage were dead._

"_Well? What do you think?" Nergal turned to his apprentice, expecting to see awe in Dusk's eyes. However, all he found instead was shock and horror._

"_Master…" Dusk began uneasily, "this…this isn't natural. Quintessence may be the most raw and potent form of energy…but what you've just done…you…you're depriving other beings of life! These creatures may have only been rats, and that's all well and good, but just how far are you going to go to obtain quintessence? Cats, dogs, horses, wyverns, even other human beings?"_

"_Of course not!" Nergal spluttered defensively. "I would never commit murder, Dusk!"_

_Dusk sighed. "I know you wouldn't, master, but even so… this experiment of yours makes me nervous. I swore an oath not to reveal what has just happened, and I will keep that oath. But if you cannot abandon this…at least restrict yourself to only small, insignificant creatures. And please…tell Lord Athos about this. He would never betray your trust unless it was a matter of life and death."_

_Nergal hesitated for a moment. "All right," he reluctantly agreed. "I'll speak to Athos about this. But for now, let us move on to a different topic. I understand that you can use staves now as a Druid, correct?" Dusk nodded, relieved that he had changed the topic. "You may know much about dark magic, but you know next to nothing about staves. It is time we address that…"_

(End Flashback)

"Nergal did tell me about his plans eventually," Athos explained, "and I agreed with Dusk's assessment. At first, it seemed as though we had dropped the matter and life went back to as it once was. He once again became fully engrossed in teaching Dusk, and he became much more social with the rest of the Arcadians as well."

He sighed. "Then mysterious events started to occur. People started to find small corpses of animals around the village. This normally wouldn't have alerted anyone, except for the fact that all of them looked as though the life had been drained out of them. This was soon followed by much larger animals, like horses and pegasi, randomly disappearing off the face of the village. These killings and disappearances escalated until I myself saw Nergal killing a human being for the first time by draining his quintessence."

"Fiend!" Harken yelled furiously. "He openly committed murder on the streets of a peaceful village?"

Athos raised his hand to calm Harken. "Peace, knight of Pherae! Nergal's action was one of self-defense, not murder. Even a peaceful village such as Arcadia has its share of rogues and bandits. One group of them attempted to ambush Nergal and rob him, but they knew not the power that Nergal possessed and he easily destroyed them. But as he struck them down with dark magic, he drained the life force from their bodies and left their corpses on the sidewalk. As soon as I saw this, I urged Nergal to cease his experiments for I foresaw nothing but destruction, but this time Nergal adamantly refused. He claimed that quintessence was the greatest energy source he had ever experienced, and that he would pursue it to its fullest."

"That was the beginning of the fall," Dusk continued sadly. "Nergal, for he was no longer the master I cared for and respected, continued to kill more and more people, innocents as well as criminals and robbers. Athos and the Arcadian elders knew that they would have to put a stop to Nergal before he ended up destroying all of Arcadia in his lust for quintessence."

"We took up arms against Nergal, and it was through Dusk that we were able to locate him." Athos finished for him. "Dusk always had a knack for foresight, which you might have recognized based on how he was able to determine the entire enemy position before your battles began. It was with this talent that he identified where Nergal would strike next, and it was there, on the outskirts of Arcadia, that we fought our final battle."

(Flashback – The Final Confrontation)

"_Nergal!" Athos yelled as he approached the fallen druid. With him stood Dusk and the draconian elders of Arcadia, all holding powerful magical tomes to do battle with their former friend._

"_Athos…" Nergal sneered, with a cruel tone that had never been present before. "So, you have come to try to stop me? Fool! You do not understand the raw power that quintessence gives me! I will never yield and return to the wretched state I was once in. For with the energy of quintessence, I will become more powerful than I ever was before!"_

"_Why, Nergal? At what cost? Why do you pursue this madness? Not only have you murdered several men for your quintessence, but you have also created morphs and violated the laws of nature! We fought those creatures to reach you, and none of us can believe that you would dare engage in such forbidden magic!" Athos cried out, pleading with Nergal to see reason. "It's not too late to turn back! Please, stop, before it's too late!"_

_Nergal laughed bitterly. "You fail to understand, Athos! You, who of all people should understand the importance of knowledge and power! And as to why I seek this power, I see no reason to tell you considering how you have betrayed my trust already!"_

_He looked furiously at Dusk. "You scum! I taught you everything I knew about dark magic and have made you into one of the most powerful druids of Arcadia! And this is how you repay me? To stand alongside my enemies and bring about my destruction? May you rot in Hell for your treachery!"_

_Athos lowered his eyes in grief. "Then there is nothing left for us to say to each other, my old friend?"_

"_None," Nergal spat. He held up an ancient black tome with sigils of darkness written all over it. To his horror, Dusk recognized it as the ancient Ereshkigal tome, a truly destructive tome almost as powerful as Apocalypse._

"_Then I will do what I must," Athos sighed resignedly. His resolve hardened and he raised his own Forblaze tome. Without further ado, the two initiated their duel. Everyone could only watch in amazement as explosions of fire and shadow tore the battlefield upon which they fought. Both Athos and Nergal were fighting to the death, and neither one would surrender willingly to the other._

_But, gradually, Nergal started to overpower Athos, whose blasts of fire were beginning to get weaker and weaker. Athos was an old man even back in Arcadia, and yet Nergal was at the height of his peak. And even if they were equal in age, dark magic held a natural advantage against the forces of nature. Athos couldn't hold against Nergal much longer, and everyone knew it._

"_We've got to help Lord Athos!" Dusk cried out. He whipped out his own Luna tome and began furiously chanting it. The six circles of elder power swirled around Nergal, and he cried out in pain as they all struck him. The other Arcadian elders began chanting ancient spells as well, bombarding Nergal with power Aura, Fimbulvetr, and Fenrir attacks. As powerful as Nergal was, even he could not stand against so many spells being cast on him at once. Revitalized by seeing all of his allies fighting alongside him, Athos conjured one final flaming meteor and hurled it at Nergal's face._

"_AAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!" Nergal screamed in fury and agony as the flames struck him squarely in the eye. When he recovered enough to move his hand, Dusk could see that his eye had been burned, leaving a hideous mark on his face. "A perfect representation of the darkness that now dominates his soul…" Dusk mused bitterly._

"_You cannot defeat all of us, Nergal," one of the elder dragons growled. "I suggest you flee now or we will destroy you. Your choice."_

"_Peace," Athos interrupted, but Nergal cut him off. "Fine, then," he hissed, "I will leave your precious little town for now. But mark my words, Athos, and you too, you worthless little traitor," as he coldly regarded his former apprentice, "this isn't the end."_

_And with that, Nergal teleported away from Arcadia. Everyone looked at each other sadly, silently lamenting the loss of their fallen friend. "I don't think we've seen the last of Nergal, Lord Athos," Dusk commented, a look of grief on his face._

"_I do not think so, either…" Lord Athos replied with a mournful expression as he looked away from the horizon of the desert._

(End Flashback)

Dusk concluded, his face clouded with sadness as he recalled the fall of his former master. "Nergal vanished from Arcadia, knowing that we would be hunting for him to prevent him from carrying out his foul plans," Dusk concluded, his face clouded with sadness as he recalled the fall of his former master. "We returned to our old lives in Arcadia, but from that point forth we knew that everything had changed. I continued my tutelage under Lord Athos instead and I also began studying battle tactics, for I soon developed an interest in strategy as well. For centuries, Nergal remained hidden from our sights…"

"Until now," muttered Linus.

Athos nodded, "When Nergal re-emerged, we could sense the darkness stretch out over the land. We were able to locate its origin as what is now known as Laus, and Dusk set out for that country. However, he was still unfamiliar with the territories as they are known now today, so he got lost and ended up in Sacae by mistake. It was then when you saved his life, Lyndis."

Dusk now looked fairly embarrassed. "I underestimated how many supplies I would need for the trip, for it had been a long time since I travelled outside of Arcadia, a very foolish mistake on my part and one that I swore never to make again. I am very grateful to Lyndis that she rescued me on the plains of Sacae, or else I don't know what would have happened."

Lyndis smiled graciously, accepting Dusk's gratitude. "But I don't understand one thing," she interjected. "You must be centuries old, Dusk, but you don't look much older than us! How have you not aged all this time?"

"Because, Lyndis, there is dragon blood flowing in my veins. One of my ancestors was a Divine dragon who fell in love with a human."

Everyone gasped. The fact that Ninian and Nils had been dragons was shocking enough, but their tactician had the same blood flowing through him the whole time?

"…did you know, Dusk?" Eliwood suddenly asked, his expression stony. "Did you know that Ninian was a dragon? Did you know that I would slay the one I loved and did not say a word?"

Dusk shook his head. "No, Eliwood. If I had known about Ninian's background, I would have tried to convince her that you would love her despite her nature, and I almost certainly would have prevented you from slaying her with Durandal. The children of dragons and humans have very…varying characteristics. Some, such as Ninian, are able to turn into dragons themselves. Others merely have a lifespans that span centuries or perhaps enhanced strength or magical aptitude. About a fourth of my heritage is draconic, and as a result I have both expanded lifespan and innate skill in dark magic. However, I cannot detect the presence of other dragon hybrids and I certainly cannot transform into one myself."

Eliwood nodded, his facial features relaxing considerably as he accepted that Dusk hadn't betrayed his and Ninian's trust.

"The story of our past is now at an end," Athos concluded wearily. "You now know the full truth about Dusk and myself. Rest now, for it has been a long night. We have a difficult journey ahead of us, for soon we will have to face Nergal and his armies of darkness."

/

A/N: Whoo, this one took a long time for me to write! I hope you liked the flashback strategy that I used when writing this.

Assuming that Ninian is Roy's mother, I'm making a few assumptions. The first is that anything can happen if you're part-dragon. You may be nothing more than a strong mortal especially if the draconic part only makes up a small (quarter or less) part of your heritage, or you may end up being a dragon like Ninian and Nils. It would also depend a lot on the type of dragon. Roy, being part ice dragon, has a natural aptitude for combat (although I've heard he kinda sucks as a Lord) but probably would not be as powerful as other dragons of different types, particular Divine Dragons. On the other hand, Dusk is part Divine dragon (which I assume would be much more powerful than a simple ice dragon), so he has extended lifespan AND skill in dark magic. I hope this argument makes just a little sense XD

Read and review please! :D


	23. Chapter 23 - Finding Closure

A/N: Before I start this chapter, I would like to give out a particular thank-you to all of the guests who have reviewed indirectly (I guess that's how you could call it?) Normally I would send a PM to reviewers but I couldn't do so directly, and I just…realized…right now…that I could simply look up the author and send them a PM through that. Unfortunately, I'm on a tight schedule right now (finals coming up) and I don't think it would be a great idea to go through the entire review list and send individual PMs especially since there are a few that are extremely outdated, so instead I will give out my undying gratitude to all of my supporters instead! Thank you so much everybody!

It's too bad this next chapter won't be as happy as the author's note… :(

Chapter 23 – Finding Closure

"So what do we do now?" Eliwood asked.

"We must stop Nergal at all cost," Athos answered, "that much is clear. If we fail or do nothing, then he will unleash a horde of dragons onto the land so that he may claim their quintessence and gain even more power. That would mean the end of the world as we know it. But…" he sighed wearily, "you have already seen that I alone could not defeat Nergal. We will need the power of the Sacred Weapons to stop him."

"We don't have time for that!" Linus protested. "If we try to find every single Sacred Weapon, Nergal will probably send out more troops to stop us or attack everything we care about while we're busy!"

"You are right, Rabid Hound," Athos agreed. "Instead, I will go to the Shrine of Seals and alert Bramimond to what has just occurred. We will need his power, no matter what the cost. I will bring some of the Sacred Weapons to him and empower them so that we will be ready in the fight against Nergal."

"And while you're at it," Hector finished, "we'll go ahead of you and attack Dread Isle while you're ready!"

Athos gasped. "What? You plan to actually go to Valor? You cannot defeat Nergal without the Sacred Weapons!"

"His plan's a good one, Lord Athos," Lyn unexpectedly agreed. "We might not be able to attack Nergal directly, but we can certainly defeat some of his troops. If we don't accept Nergal's invitation, he'll continue to send armies after us. I won't have Lycia ravaged again!"

"You truly are the children of Roland," Athos commented admiringly. "I thought that nothing would surprise me anymore, but clearly I am quite wrong. I know that you will be the ones to succeed and protect the world."

"Wait a second," Lloyd suddenly interrupted. He turned to Dusk. "The Ostian guard told me that the army of morphs suddenly teleported out of thin air. Can Nergal perform such a spell again while we're moving to the Dread Isle?"

Dusk shook his head. "To perform a spell like that would take a great amount of power and energy," he explained. "Nergal would not be able to cast a spell like that again for a long time, and even if he could he would not want to. He needs to consolidate a large amount of power to open the Dragon's Gate. In a way, I'm glad that Nergal attacked Castle Ostia, for it means that he won't be able to open the Dragon's Gate or cast any major spells for a few weeks. If we are to attack, we must do so during that window of opportunity."

"Very well," Athos nodded. "That is now our plan. But for now, rest and prepare for tomorrow, for you have a long journey ahead of you."

/

As the rest of the army turned to retire for what little of the night remained, Athos suddenly held out a hand to Eliwood. "Hold, Eliwood. What happened to Durandal? What happened to the Blazing Blade?"

Eliwood hesitated, then took it out. "It's right here, Lord Athos," he answered. "I…couldn't bring myself to wield it."

"I understand," Athos put his hand on his shoulder comfortingly. "Given what has happened, I would honestly be surprised if you did not feel the way you do. However, you know that we cannot defeat Nergal without the power of Durandal."

"I know," Eliwood nodded, his resolve hardening. "The next time I wield this blade, I will not hesitate."

"I know that you will not, Eliwood," Athos nodded. "However, for the time being, would you like me to hold it for you? You already know that I must take the weapon to Bramimond to empower it further, and I believe now would be as good a time as any."

"Yes," Eliwood consented without hesitation. "Thank you, Lord Athos."

"Think nothing of it," Athos replied, carefully holding the blade and putting it away. "Rest now, Eliwood. Ninian would not want you to fight our enemy weakened and demoralized."

Eliwood gratefully obeyed Athos' command, leaving to gain a few precious moments of sleep.

/

"Oswin!" Hector called out to his sworn man. The Ostian general turned to face his commander and lord. "What is it, Hector?"

"I need to know, Oswin. What happened to my brother? Leave nothing hidden," Hector commanded.

"I have told you already, Lord Hector. He left for a conference in Etruria," Oswin began, but Hector cut him off.

"Don't give me that, Oswin!" he growled. "Every time I try to ask the other soldiers they keep shifting looks as though they're hiding something! Besides, I already spoke to Lord Pent and he never heard of any conference in Etruria involving Lycian affairs. Now tell me the truth."

"…I'm sorry, Lord Hector," Oswin finally replied. "I cannot tell you."

"Damn it, Oswin!" Hector was yelling now. "If you truly are loyal to Ostia, then tell me what happened! Now! Before I strike you down where you stand!"

"…" Oswin remained silent, but he could no longer hide the pain and grief that he had kept hidden for so long.

Hector stopped ranting once he saw this new expression on Oswin's face. "I knew it…" he muttered, his rage now mingled with sorrow. "He's dead, isn't he? You knew this the whole time, and you never said a word."

"…I'm sorry, Lord Hector," Oswin answered. "Lord Uther swore all of Castle Ostia to secrecy…"

"Why? Because you all thought that I wasn't mature enough to know the truth? That none of you could trust me?" Hector shouted furiously. "Bah!" he muttered, barely managing to calm himself. "I don't want to see you again for the rest of the night, Oswin. Tell any soldier who doesn't leave me alone that I'll slam my axe into his face. Understood?" he finished coldly.

Oswin only nodded and turned to deliver Hector's warning. Only when he was alone did he finally let his emotions break free as he mourned his brother's death. First his mother, then his father, and now his brother had been taken by the same disease that had sapped their strength and left them to die. In a way, he was almost thankful that he was under the curse of Armads, for he would one day die on his feet as a hero instead of slowly wasting away on a cold bed or throne.

"I need to talk to somebody," Hector thought frantically, "somebody I can trust." Not Eliwood, for the grieving lord of Pherae was already struggling with Ninian's and his father's deaths, and it would be downright selfish of him to burden his best friend further. Not Florina, for he had no right to make her experience the pain and suffering that he was feeling. Lyndis had already gone to bed, and he did not trust Matthew or Serra. For all he knew, those two could have known the whole time and kept him in the dark.

"Lord Hector?" a voice interrupted his thoughts. "Are you all right?"

Hector turned to see Lloyd Reed standing in front of his room, a candle in his hand and concern in his eyes. "I heard you shouting about something at Lord Oswin."

"Did you hear exactly what we were saying?" Hector asked curtly.

Lloyd hesitated, then decided to tell the truth. "Yes, I did. I'm sorry for…"

"Don't," Hector silenced him. "Please, just…don't. I don't want sympathy right now."

"I know," Lloyd replied. "You don't want sympathy. You want closure. You want to know why your brother kept his illness and imminent death hidden from you. You won't be satisfied until you can justify your brother's actions. Am I right in assuming this?"

"…You'd think it be easy, after having it happen so many times," Hector muttered after several seconds of silence."

"I beg your pardon, Lord Hector?" a confused Lloyd interrupted.

"This isn't the first time a member of my family's passed on, Lloyd," Hector clarified, the pain clear in his voice. "Almost all of my family is dead now. First my mother, then my father, and now my brother Uther." His voice began to waver, although he refused to break down. "It's not even the fact that my brother has passed on, I knew it was coming eventually. What bothers me so much is why they couldn't trust me with his death. Did they really think that I would be so distracted as to abandon my friends when they needed me the most? Why…why couldn't they have just told me the truth? I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye…"

Lloyd marveled at how Hector had managed to keep himself from breaking down. The new commander of the Black Fang had sworn a private oath that he would be strong for his brother's and stepsister's sakes when his father had fallen, but he doubted that even he would have kept his composure up if he faced what Hector now had to endure.

"…I don't think that your brother hid his illness because he thought you were weak or untrustworthy, Lord Hector," Lloyd finally spoke up.

"What do you mean?" Hector looked up abruptly.

"Think about it from his perspective, as a loving brother," Lloyd pressed on now that he had Hector's attention. "He knew that you valued Eliwood, Lyndis, and the rest of your friends, as well as that you would strive to protect them and finish your mission no matter what. Now, what would happen if, during this crucial moment during your battles, you suddenly received word that your brother was gravely ill and very possibly dying? What would be your first instinct?"

"…as his brother and close servant of the marques, I would have a duty to tend to him," Hector answered automatically. Suddenly, his eyes went wide. "But that would mean…"

"…that by doing so, you would have to abandon your quest with your friends," Lloyd finished for him. "But you couldn't do that either. Even if there was no Nergal, even if there was no threat to the world as we know it, this army is filled with so many people that you care and love about. And to desert them would be a great dishonor indeed."

"Argh!" Hector yelled furiously, slamming his fist into the wall. "Either way, I couldn't escape the pain and the sorrow! Either way, I'd have to abandon someone I care about and feel like a betrayer! Is there no way out of this?"

"Lord Uther did provide the way, Hector," Lloyd answered gently. "By keeping his death hidden from you, he made sure that you would not have to face this terrible choice. That you could continue your mission with a clear conscience and a carefree heart."

The more Hector thought about it, what Lloyd said was making more and more sense to him. But it still wasn't enough to remove his doubts entirely. "I think you're right, Lloyd," he finally agreed wearily. "But I'm still not entirely convinced. How do you know that Uther didn't trust me with the burdens of heading the Lycian League? Surely he knew that I would have to make difficult choices like this in the long run."

"No political decision could be a more difficult choice than the one that Lord Uther saved you from, Lord Hector," Lloyd replied firmly, for he truly believed this. "And if you do not believe that your fellow Ostians support and believe in you, ask them yourself and make them swear to tell the truth under oath. I am sure that no matter what they would stand by your side, and if they reveal faults within you, it will be for the purpose of making you a better person in the future rather than to spite you."

When Lloyd finally finished speaking, Hector felt as though a huge burden were slowly lifting from his shoulders. He knew in his heart that Lloyd was right, that Uther and Oswin had only kept his best interests in mind when they engaged in their secrecy. "Thanks, Lloyd. You're a great man and a great friend for telling me this. Now that I know what the Black Fang was truly like before Sonia came, I can honestly say my first impression was just completely wrong."

"Think nothing of it, Lord Hector," he replied. He then added with a snort, "In fact, I would agree with every negative opinion of the Black Fang you had in your head while Sonia was in control."

Hector stood up, no longer as distressed as he had been minutes ago. "I'm off to find Oswin. I think I'll also talk to him about maybe getting some funds since I heard Dusk talking about visiting town nearby before we head off to the Dread Isle. I'll see you around, Lloyd."

Lloyd saluted the lord of Ostia before heading off to his room. "It's good to know that I've freed him from his sorrow, at least for a little while," he thought before heading off to sleep.

/

Oswin stood silently in the throne room, thinking about the recent confrontation in between him and Hector. Although he was convinced that in the end he had made the right choice in following the now late Lord Uther's orders, his conscience was still racked with guilt and shame. For all he knew, Lord Hector might never forgive him. And he'd have good reason not to.

"Oswin?" Speak of the devil. Oswin looked up and saw Hector himself walking down the hallway towards him. "Sir…" he began, but Hector cut him off.

"I'm going to cut to the chase, Oswin," he replied brusquely. "I'm still angry at you for hiding Uther's death from me, and I'm not going to pretend that I still trust you like I used to. But we have a job to do in defeating Nergal, and I'm going to need all the help I can get. Can I count on you to fight alongside with and support me to the end?"

Oswin nodded, feeling a small trickle of relief within him. "Of course, Lord Hector. I swore an oath to House Ostia, and I will not renege on that promise. Not now, not ever."

"Good. I'll accept that as an apology for now," Hector interrupted again, and Oswin nodded signaling his agreement to drop the subject. "Now then, Dusk mentioned after we dispersed that we're going to be stopping at a town near Ostia to buy some much needed weapons and other supplies. I plan on taking out some gold from the Ostian treasury for that purpose."

"Ahem," Oswin interrupted curtly, "surely, as the new Marquess of Ostia, you must understand how to be practical in handling our funds?"

"Yes, yes, I know," Hector replied impatiently, "I'm not going to take out all of our money. Just a small part. How does…" he mused, "…how does 30000 gold sound?"

Oswin nodded. "That seems to be a reasonable amount. I will have the soldiers send it to us shortly after we depart."

"Good," Hector approved, "and Oswin?"

"Yes, milord?"

"We're not finished talking about my brother's death. When we have time, when we finally beat Nergal to a pulp, I want answers and I expect you to give me them."

Oswin sighed inwardly, for he knew that Lord Hector was right. "As you wish, milord."

/

A/N: Whoo! This was a long chapter for me to write! I hope you guys liked it! You're probably not getting another one for the next two weeks (finals OP).

Read and review please!


	24. Chapter 24 - Preparing for Battle

A/N: Finally, finals are done! :D And you know what that means, right? Time for another chapter!

Chapter 24 – Preparing for Battle

"All right, everyone! Here's the plan!" Dusk called for his army's attention. They had set up camp in a small town near Castle Ostia, where the townsfolk had generously cleared the area and set up their shops and armories for them to get the supplies necessary to fight a great threat, as Dusk had put it at the time. "We will spend the rest of the day purchasing weapons and other supplies, and then afterwards we will head out to Badon. To those who are going to be purchasing our physical weapons, I specifically want Killer, Reverser, and semi-ranged weapons for our arsenal. To those who will be purchasing magical tomes and staves, I want you to buy the highest level tomes possible and some restore and mend staves. The rest of you can relax for the day, or if it suits your fancy, try your skill in the arena. I will meet with you back at the center of town by the end of the day."

Everyone gave various responses of assent. For many, it was a very welcome change from the exhausting battles that they had faced over the last week. They knew that they had to get all the rest they could manage before the final battle against Nergal. Others, however, were still very keen on getting in some action.

"Just you wait, Lloyd!" Linus bragged. "I'm going to wipe the floor with my opponents in the arena. They'll all learn why I'm called the Rabid Hound!"

Lloyd smirked. "Sure, sure, Linus. And then you'll get beaten by the first opponent who happens to be a General or a Wyvern Lord."

"Hey!" Linus protested. "I've beaten both of those plenty of times. With a weapon triangle disadvantage too, I might add!"

"Whatever you say, Linus, whatever you say."

"Ahem," Dusk coughed, interrupting them both. "Do be careful. I'm sure Nergal would be beside himself with glee if he learned that you got yourself killed by something as inconsequential as an arena fight."

"Ironic you say that, Dusk, considering your main strategy for building up our army in the first place," Eliwood noted smugly.

Even before their first confrontation with Nergal, Dusk had adopted an effective although very unorthodox strategy of strengthening and training their army. In many towns with arenas, such as Badon and the Bernese village where they had fought Lloyd, after they had fought their battles Dusk ordered them to spend hours on end of training in the arena. He was very careful with their lives of course, always instructing them to back out if they faced an obvious disadvantage, such as a swordmaster against Bartre. However, for the most part, the members of the Lycian army gathered much experience, strength, and training through fighting their experienced and challenging contenders in the arena. This arena training also yielded side benefits; because of their numerous victories, they now had a huge supply of wealth to purchase any weapons and supplies that they desired. Marcus and Oswin had both initially protested that this arena training was both dangerous and very time-consuming, but Dusk had eventually persuaded them both that taking all of this time to train would ultimately yield victory instead of recklessly attempting to rush at Nergal only to end up defeated and killed due to lack of experience.

"Yes, well, I didn't have you engage in that kind of training only for you to end up killed by an unexpected mishap," Dusk countered. "But you are free to do as you wish for today, so long as you respect the rights of the townspeople. I myself will oversee the purchasing of supplies."

And with those words, Dusk teleported away. "Come on," Hector called to Eliwood and Lyndis, "let's get those supplies that we need. I'll get the axes, while you two get the lances and swords."

The two nodded and left for the armories that contained the weapons. In the meantime, Linus, Lloyd, and Legault made their way towards the arena with Jaffar and Nino behind them.

"Who's going to be fighting at the arena today?" Nino asked.

"Oh, the usual," Legault answered offhandedly. "local fighters, travelers who happen to be skilled in some branch of magic or weaponry or other, pirates and brigands who take a break from pillaging and want to make some money on the right side of the law for once. Lloyd and Linus have gone arena-fighting quite a few times, in fact, back when the Fang was still young."

"Are you going to fight now?" Nino asked a bit concerned.

"I am," Linus responded, "and I think Lloyd is too. Don't worry, Nino, I can handle myself. You know me. I'm the Rabid Hound, and I can't be defeated by anybody!"

"Except me," snickered Lloyd, to Linus' protestations.

"Hey, what's that guy doing?" Legault suddenly pointed at a figure close to the arena.

Everyone turned to see one of the warriors in their team, Bartre, talking to what appeared to be a beautiful-looking Sacaen swordmistress in the front of the arena. Suddenly, the two whipped out their weapons and began attacking each other.

"What the?" Linus spluttered, obviously confused. "If they wanted to kill each other that badly couldn't they have just waited a few seconds? They're outside an ARENA, for Elimine's sake!"

"I don't think this is a simple fight, Linus," Lloyd commented. The five watched interested as the Sacaen swordmistress and the hotheaded fighter tried but failed to pummel each other with lethal blows. Suddenly, the two stopped fighting and shook hands before walking toward the leaders of the Fang.

"What was that all about?" Linus asked Bartre when the two were within hearing range.

"This is my sworn enemy!" Bartre announced proudly, gesturing at the swordmistress. "She's joining us for now, but once this war is over we'll see who's the better fighter!"

"Indeed," the swordmistress, who introduced herself as Karla, agreed. "Bartre has improved significantly since the last time we battled. We shall have to see who is stronger in the end, but for now I am joining you. It's about time I caught up with my rival, and I believe that if I stay with strong warriors eventually I will find my brother."

"Who's your brother?" Nino asked curiously.

"Karel. A man who goes by the name of the Sword Demon."

Lloyd suddenly gave a start at the mention of the name. Karla noticed this and immediately turned to him. "Have you seen him?" she asked, suddenly tense.

"A few years ago," Lloyd answered uneasily. "I was under his tutelage for a short time before I left to find my own path in the Black Fang. He was in Sacae back then, but I don't think he was the type of man to linger in one place."

Karla's face became unreadable again. "I…see. Thank you for telling me this. I will go see your tactician now."

"I'll take you there," Bartre said gruffly. Together, he and Karla left to find the leaders of the Lycian army.

"Well that was…odd…" Legault commented dryly. "When most people make friends, they usually don't make them over trying to kill each other with lethal weapons. What's next? Marriage?"

The four (since Jaffar doesn't laugh) chuckled at the idea and then made their way towards the arena, eager to get some extra gold and test their fighting skills.

/

When the day ended, everyone gathered together to pool their collected supplies and arena winnings into Merlinus' storage. Dusk was pleased to see that they had plenty of all types of weapons and items and that they wouldn't be unprepared anytime soon.

"This will be plenty for our final fight," Dusk concluded approvingly. "We'll be well-prepared when the time comes. Rest for the night, for tomorrow we travel to Badon and the Dread Isle."

As everyone dispersed, the five Black Fang members stood around one of the small campfires set up by the Lycian army.

"The time is almost upon us," Lloyd spoke quietly to the rest. "Our final battle with Nergal. And when that comes, we will show him the true justice of the Black Fang. We will carry on the legacy of our father with his execution."

"We're with you, brother," Linus nodded in agreement. "To victory, or death."

/

A/N: Unfortunately this will be the last chapter for a while, I have a busy summer :(

I would like to say something first, though. I do intend to promote Dusk into something greater than a Druid before his final battle with Nergal (remember that I said that I would provide three alternate versions of the Nergal fight in one of the earlier chapters, and Dusk can't defeat Nergal as a mere Druid) and this is pretty much fixed. However, the actual promotion is where audience participation comes in. When I promote Dusk, should I (a) make him a Dark Druid like Nergal, or (b) come up with my own class? Please make your decision (with reasons, preferably) in your reviews.

Speaking of which, read and review please :D


	25. Chapter 25 - Return to the Dread Isle

A/N: Sorry if Fargus's speech dialogue sounds messed up, I don't know how to talk like a pirate :P

Chapter 25 – Return to the Dread Isle

"We've finally made it!" Hector cried out, exhausted, as the army stumbled into Badon. "Was it really necessary to force us here in two days, Dusk?"

The day after they had made their preparations, Dusk had forced the army to travel from sun-up to sundown as quickly as possible to take advantage of Nergal's momentary weakness following his attack on Castle Ostia. The trip itself would not have been so taxing except for the fact that they had had to travel several miles each day, on Dusk's insistence.

"You and I know full well, Lord Hector, that we must get to the Dread Isle as soon as possible," Dusk responded curtly. "You will have time to rest on the boat."

"Thank Elimine for that!" Hector muttered under his breath.

Fortunately, they weren't forced to waste any time in Badon. Dart and Eliwood had sent a message to Captain Fargus beforehand informing them of their request to return to the Dread Isle. The captain himself wasn't normally a superstitious man, but his senses told him that something very dark was happening in Valor and that this Lycian army was the one that needed to stop it. And so he had agreed, without payment, to transport their army once again.

"Ahoy there, whelps!" Fargus called out as he saw the three Lycian lords. "You look like ye haven't slept fifty winks!"

"We're in a bit of a hurry," Eliwood briefly gasped out.

"Aye, I can see that," Fargus agreed a bit sarcastically. "But now ye can relax until we get to Valor! My ship is ready to take ye to the Dread Isle once again!"

"Thank you, Captain," Lyndis accepted the offer gratefully, and everyone eagerly climbed aboard his vessel. She saw Dart, who she just now remembered was Fargus's first mate, step aside to talk to Fargus, and they both walked away laughing.

Dusk only had a few words to say before he allowed them to spend their voyage as they desired.

"We have a long, hard, and dangerous road ahead of us. Get as much rest as possible while you can. I'm sorry that I forced you to get here at a strenuous pace, but as you all know we are hard-pressed for time. So rest, and be merry! This may be the last opportunity we have for a long while."

/

Many hours later, Lloyd was the only person remaining on the boat. Everyone else, heeding Dusk's advice, had already retired to their rooms, but Lloyd himself wasn't quite ready to follow them.

"Are you nervous, Lloyd?"

The White Wolf turned to see Fiora behind him. Although she was smiling, Lloyd could see the worry and concern in her eyes. "When we return to the Dread Isle, we will have to face Nergal's most powerful forces. Do you think we are ready for that?"

Lloyd thought for a moment, and then nodded his head. "Absolutely. We have faced and suffered much over the last few weeks, but every time we have come out stronger than ever. Look at Lord Eliwood, for instance. He lost both his father and the love of his life in less than two weeks. Most men would have crumbled to despair under such circumstances, and for good reason too. But despite all that, he is still an excellent leader for our army. I can't think of anyone I would have leading this army than him."

"It's the same with you. Nergal killed your father and nearly ruined his greatest work, but you and the rest of the Fang are still fighting to the end," Fiora added.

Lloyd shuffled uncomfortably, but quickly regained his composure. "I would say without a doubt that Nergal is the greatest living example of injustice and tyranny walking on the continent at this moment in time. Even had he not slain my father, it is my duty to see him brought to justice. And I will help carry that out or die trying."

"…I've noticed that you are extremely loyal to the way of the Fang, Lloyd. I…I can't help but admire you for that," Fiora commented. As soon as she said it, she blushed fiercely. "What am I thinking?" she thought scathingly to herself.

"Your admiration means a lot to me, Fiora. Thank you," Lloyd replied, fortunately not noticing Fiora's embarrassment. "When all of this ends, when we bring Nergal to justice, will you return home to Ilia and continue your life as a mercenary?"

"I…I can't, Lloyd," Fiora said, lowering her head in shame. "I failed my company of riders. Every single one of them died under my command. To the community of Ilian mercenaries, that is the ultimate failure and disgrace. If I were to return, I would lose all of my authority and be thrown out to live in the cold."

"That wasn't your fault, Fiora. You could not have known that Nergal's dark forces dwelled at the Dread Isle. And…well…us as well," Lloyd finished, a bit ashamed as well.

"It doesn't matter, Lloyd. Ilians are very…unforgiving…when it comes to their Pegasus mercernaries. I will have to stay in Lycia or Etruria; it would be better for me if I was dead to Ilia than return home in shame."

Lloyd suddenly had an idea. "You could stay with us! The Black Fang. I'm sure that most of the Fang would be happy to have a seasoned warrior such as you join us."

Fiora looked up, doubt and hope mixed in her expression. "But I have a duty to…"

"You said it yourself, Fiora. There is no future for you in Ilia," Lloyd interrupted. "But the Black Fang has a duty as well, to protect Bern from corrupt nobles who drain the common man dry and destroy the country from within. Can you not fight for a cause like that?"

"I…I have to think about it, Lloyd," Fiora finally answered after much thought. "But…thank you. Thank you for offering this to me. You are truly a kind and noble person. Please…don't die in the upcoming battle. I've already seen many close friends die, I don't want you to join them."

Lloyd grasped Fiora's hand firmly. "I promise, Fiora, that I will live for both our sakes."

"I hold you to that oath," Fiora answered. She suddenly kissed Lloyd lightly on the cheek. "Good night, Lloyd. Sleep well." And with that, she turned and entered the depths on the ship.

Lloyd stood stunned, absentmindedly lifting his hand and feeling the place where Fiora had just kissed him. "Surely she wouldn't…would she?" But before he could think anymore, a hand roughly grabbed his shoulder.

"A beauty, isn't she, that lass?" Captain Fargus asked in a lighthearted tone.

"I can't deny that," Lloyd answered, laughing quietly.

"Aye," Fargus agreed. Suddenly, his tone turned serious, almost threatening. "I've seen yer kind before, whelp. Some of your friends attacked us with a ship the first time we set sail to Valor. And I don't forget my enemies. So tell me, whelp, why I should trust you?"

"I will answer as honestly as I can," Lloyd replied, looking Fargus right in the eye. "A few weeks ago, I was your enemy, that is true. But that was when I was deluded by the lies of a wicked man who, through his agents, corrupted men who should have been good. My entire family nearly fell into the same trap, although thanks to our friends many of us were able to escape at the last minute. I owe them a debt, and that is how I am here today. Together, we will face the evil in Dread Isle and destroy it. Are you satisfied with my answer?" he finished, with a look that was almost challenging the captain to doubt him.

Fargus looked hard at Lloyd for a long moment before suddenly bursting out into laughter. "You've got some fire in you, whelp! I like that!" He calmed down before continuing, "I think I'll trust you. You've got an honest face, and there's a feeling in my bones that you're telling the truth. But heed these words: if ye backstab my friends here, I'll cleave ye to the brisket and have ye keelhauled. Got that?"

"Crystal clear, Captain Fargus," Lloyd firmly answered. "I will not betray the ones who saved my life and my father's work. That would be a true disgrace indeed."

"All right, lad, I'll take yer word for it. Now get some rest, whelp, from the looks of it you're gonna need it." Together, the captain and the White Wolf made their way into the ship's hull.

/

"Wake up, young one. We have much to do."

"Urgh…" Dusk groaned as he slowly regained consciousness. To his astonishment, however, he found that he was not inside his room in Captain Fargus's vessel, but rather on a large, circular stone vessel with the symbol of elder magic inscribed on it. Beyond that vessel, the rest of the world was shrouded by a purple haze that occasionally flickered with the flames of darkness. On the opposite side of the vessel, he saw a figure. Upon looking more closely, Dusk found to his astonishment that the figure was none other than Archsage Athos.

"Lord Athos!" Dusk quickly got up, bowing to the Legend as a sign of respect. "What happened? Are the Legendary Weapons safe and ready to use? Where am I?"

"The Legendary Weapons are being prepared as we speak by Lord Bramimond, Dusk, so do not worry. As for your last question, you are in the ethereal world, more commonly known as the world of dreams," Athos explained. "I brought you here to prepare you for your battle against Nergal. As a Druid, you are at your full strength. However, you are still far from Nergal's power. If it should come to pass that you duel Nergal, you will need more strength if you are to prevail. That is the reason why I have brought you here."

"How will you be able to accomplish that, Lord Athos?" Dusk inquired.

"You have the blood of divine dragons within you, Dusk," Athos answered. "Although you will never be able to use that power to its fullest extent, if one were to awaken it further you would be able to unlock mighty potential not just in dark magic, but in all types of magic in general. And with that in mind, I present you with this."

Athos reached into his cloak and took out a shining badge made of emerald and gold. Engraved on the badge was the symbol of a dragon. "This is a dragon seal," Athos explained. "With this seal, you will no longer be a mere druid. The seal will transform you into a Drakon Sorcerer, enhancing your natural capabilities as well as granting you proficiency in Light and Anima magic."

"…I do not think I can accept this, Lord Athos. We have both seen how power can corrupt," Dusk protested.

"My friend, if I did not believe that you were truly worthy of this honor I would not even show you this seal."

Dusk considered long and carefully. Although he was afraid of the same corruption that had destroyed Nergal's soul, he had to admit that he was enthralled at the prospect of being able to master all four branches of magic, as Lord Athos had done. "Then I am honored to accept this gift," he finally decided. If the Archsage trusted him with such power after seeing what had happened to Nergal and knew that he needed it to defeat the Dark Druid, then he would use it only for the greater good.

As soon as he took the seal from Athos, fire and light burst from the seal and engulfed him completely. Dusk could feel its power envelop him and empower both his physical body and, more importantly, his mental strength. The seal burned away inside his hand, and when the flames finally faded away Dusk looked on the reflective stone surface to inspect his new look.

"Wow…" was all he could say. Although he had not grown in stature at all, his appearance now seemed greater in a sense. His druid robes were completely gone, replaced with a black vest over the upper part of his body with long sleeves covering his arms. On that vest was a symbol of a purple dragon, representing the divine dragons that had existed in Elibe before being banished during the Scouring. Purple robes now covered his legs, the two articles of clothing separated by a belt across his waist. Armored pads now appeared over his shoulders, sturdy but comfortable. From his back a purple cape extended to his feet, fluttering from the remnants of the energy used to promote him.

But the most significant additions to his clothing were the new helm and staff that he was now wielding. For on his head was now a helm forged in the shape of a dragon's head. The helm was carved with the purest gold and glowed with an unnatural yellow light, making it look as though Dusk's eyes were flashing yellow. And in his hand was now a black obsidian staff with a amethyst jewel at its top, with several dragon's wings intricately carved onto its base.

"What…what have I become?" Dusk asked, both curious and slightly nervous of the answer. "This is not like anything I have ever seen before!"

"Congratulations, my friend," Athos answered, "for you have now become a Drakon Sorcerer, a wielder not just of the dark arts but of all magic! There is no spell, not even the Legendary tomes of the Scouring, that is not beyond your grasp once you have mastered your new powers."

"But…Lord Athos! Even if I could learn light and anima magic, we have no time for that! Our final battle with Nergal begins in less than two days, and learning any branch of magic could take months if not years!"

"Indeed, a very astute observation," Athos agreed. "That is the very reason why I have brought us into the ethereal world. Under the shadow of Nergal's evil, it has become tainted by darkness as you can see before you. However, I have used my magic to make it safe for us to dwell here."

"And what is it that we will be doing here, Lord Athos?" Dusk asked, although he already knew the answer.

"Training," Athos confirmed Dusk's suspicions. "Here in the ethereal world, time can run at a much slower or faster rate than in the real world. We can spend thousand years here, but in the real world only a year may pass. We will not remain here for that long, but we will have plenty of time for me to teach you what I know about Light and Anima magic, as well as complete your training in Staves. At its core, the study of magic is merely an exercise of the mind, so any skill that you learn in here will be transferred to the real world when you wake up."

"I see," Dusk nodded to show his understanding. "Then I suppose now would be as good a time as any to get started."

/

As a new day broke, Dusk slowly woke up in his room on Captain Fargus's ship. His mind was instantly alert as he remembered what had traversed in the ethereal world. One might have dismissed it as merely a dream, but Dusk knew better. For before him, folded neatly in a pile, were the very robes that the Dragon Seal had bestowed upon him.

"Dusk?" a voice called out.

Dusk quickly hid his new apparel; he didn't want people knowing about his new promotion just yet. The door opened and Lyndis walked in. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, Lyn, thank you for asking."

"Eliwood wanted me to send you a message," Lyn said calmly, although he could see the tension and nervousness in her eyes. "We've arrived at the Dread Isle."

/

A/N: So there you go, guys! Dusk's promotion, the Drakon Sorcerer! I'll show you his stats and stuff at the end of the author's note.

In the end I didn't want to promote Dusk as a Dark Druid, since the class's description itself says that they are druids whose hearts are bound by darkness. This description fits Nergal perfectly, but Dusk was able to resist the corruption of the darkness after seeing what happened to his former mentor.

There's no way that Dusk would be able to master light and anima magic all in one night if he was living in the real world, so I thought that a dream world running on a different dimension of time would be the best way to explain Dusk's newfound power. It would also give Athos a way to communicate with Dusk since currently the two are far away.

The next chapter (the one with the huge fight against the morphs and Limstella) will feature all of the main characters of this fic: the Black Fang leaders, Dusk, and the lords.

This'll probably be my last update for a while, since I'm taking a vacation to (South) Korea for pretty much the rest of the summer :)

Oh, and one last thing: that was indeed Lloyd's A Support with Fiora. I'll leave you guessing as to what that will mean for their future.

Dusk's New Character Profile

Drakon Sorcerer Lvl. 20

Description: Sorcerers whose dragon blood give them mastery over the magical arts.

HP: 60 (max 60) Luck: 22 (max 30)

Mag: 30 (max 30) Def: 22 (max 27)

Skl: 27 (max 27) Res: 28 (max 28)

Spd: 28 (max 28) Con: 10

Affinity: Anima

Light: S rank, Anima: S rank, Dark: S rank, Staff: S rank

Note: Dusk can use Forblaze.

/

The sprite (in my head) is actually fairly similar to Lyon's Necromancer class, except that the Drakon Sorcerer always carries that staff I mentioned (whether or not he is using a Staff irl) and wears the dragon helm. He attacks like Lyon, but when he folds the cloak over his body darkness pulses from the ground regardless of the spell type (in the same way as the Dark Druid), and then he points his staff at the enemy and casts the spell. When he crits, he raises the staff into the air, the screen goes dark, and many purple flames swirl into the staff's orb before he casts the spell.

If you look at the max stats for Nergal's Dark Druid class, they are actually focused more defensively (Mag: 30, Skl: 25, Spd: 25, Def: 30, Res: 30). If you look at the Drakon's Sorcerers max stats for Skl, Spd, Def, and Res, and add them up, the total will equal the sum of the Skl, Spd, Def, and Res of the Dark Druid class.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Keep in mind that, while Dusk may be VERY strong right now, this fic is still about the Reeds and the lords at its core, and I don't intend to let Dusk overshadow them.

/

And last of all, the description for the Dragon Seal:

Dragon Seal – A seal that can promote wielders of magic with dragon blood at lvl. 20.

The Dragon Seal automatically promotes you to a Drakon Sorcerer lvl. 20 (if it started again at lvl. 1 that would be insanely overpowered as you now have 20 levels to gain max stats). All stats (besides con) are increased by five unless they hit the stat cap.

And that's all for now!


	26. Chapter 26 - Valley of Secrets

A/N: And now we move on to the final (non-Gaiden) battle before Nergal! Enjoy! This time I'm going to try something different and describe the battle entirely from the perspective of certain key characters. Once again, I don't own Fire Emblem.

Chapter 26 – Valley of Secrets

Unnatural was the only way Lloyd could describe the army that he was now fighting.

It wasn't unnatural that Nergal had sent forces out to deal with them before confronting them himself; any semi-intelligent leader would have done the same. It wasn't unnatural that some of these forces had been much more powerful than the ones they had faced at the castle; both Lloyd and his father before him often stationed the most skilled members of the Black Fang as their personal guard.

The unnatural part was the enemy themselves. Though he had seen morphs before, Lloyd still couldn't comprehend why anyone would create such a thing in the first place. As Dusk and Lord Athos had said before, to create a creature that looked so human and yet had no purpose apart from battle violated both the laws of nature and every moral code he believed in. It was almost as though he were fighting an army of animated statues, which he almost preferred. Statues, at least, were meant to be soulless.

"This is creepy," Linus muttered as he hacked a Paladin with a Swordreaver. The morphs made no sounds when they were slain, and instead dissolved into the ground like dust. It was said in the Eliminean scriptures that the human race had come from and would one day dissolve "from dust, to dust." He never believed he would one day see a _literal_ representation.

"And now that I have, I don't want to ever again," Lloyd thought as he slashed a Hero carrying a Silver sword.

"I think that's all of them on this path," Legault commented as Jaffar wordlessly sliced open the other Hero. Before the battle had begun, Dusk had informed them about the layout of the valley. There were three paths that led north, northeast, and east. However, all three paths led to the same location: the temple at which the enemy commander, Limstella, awaited them. The Black Fang had elected to take the northern path, Eliwood and Hector would lead part of their army northeast, and, to everyone's general surprise, Dusk himself volunteered to lead the assault force heading east.

"Umm…guys?" Nino suddenly got their attention. "I see a light in that old building over there."

"Hey, she's right!" Linus' eyes widened. "I see it too! Do you think there could be more enemies in that ruin?"

"I don't think so," Legault shook his head. "If there were, why is there a bandit morph trying to get there first?"

As Legault had pointed out, two bandits were slowly approaching the building, axes in hand. "Even as morphs, they still can't resist their urge to plunder," Lloyd thought cynically.

"We'll take care of them," Linus said, drawing his Light Brand. "You go and warn anybody who's in there. And be careful, it could be enemies."

"I know, Linus," Lloyd responded. He took out his own Light Brand and approached the ruin. After taking a quick look inside, he stepped in and closed the door behind him.

"Is anybody here?" Lloyd asked, peering into the ruin.

"So noisy…" a voice, surprisingly strong, spoke out of the darkness.

Lloyd whirled towards its source. A light flickered, and he could now clearly see a man in bishop's robes standing before him, light flickering from his staff. "Hello?" he called out.

"I thought I could escape battle here on the Dread Isle," the bishop said, as though Lloyd had said nothing.

"But…"

"No," he interrupted, before Lloyd could explain, "I'm not interested in why you're fighting. I am only looking for tranquility."

"So long as Nergal's evil remains," Lloyd finally managed to respond, "tranquility will never come."

"Mhm…" the bishop mused, although Lloyd still could not tell what he was thinking. He had never met a more unreadable man in his lifetime, save perhaps Jaffar. "If helping you will bring it to me, then I will lend you my power."

"Thank you…your Excellency," Lloyd nodded slowly.

"Not that it will be of much use, anyway…" the bishop muttered under his breath. "What is your name, traveler?"

"I am Lloyd Reed of the Black Fang," the swordmaster answered. "And you?"

"Renault," was all the bishop said, before he left the ruin.

"Strange man," the White Wolf thought as he followed Renault. "I have the feeling he knows or has experienced more than he's letting on. But what could he be hiding?"

/

"Heads up, Eliwood!" Hector called out.

Eliwood steered his horse aside as Hector hurled his Hand Axe at the Wyvern Lord that had been about to attack his best friend. The axe cut the wyvern morph's neck clean off, and both it and its rider collapsed onto the ground. The rider tried to get up, but Hector threw the axe again into its chest, sending it crumbling into dust.

"Weird…" Hector muttered. Eliwood understood what his friend was thinking. Morphs should never have existed in the first place, and unlike when he was facing another human being, he felt no qualms about removing their existence from the face of Elibe.

Suddenly, the sky seemed to brighten around Hector. "Watch out!" Eliwood yelled. Hector, immediately realizing what was going on, dived out of the way. A beam of light shot into the ground where Hector had been standing moments before, leaving a heat wave and a small crater onto the ground. Eliwood could see the bishop morph that had cast the spell standing just across the river. "I'll handle this one," Eliwood told his friend. He took out a javelin and hurled it at the bishop. The morph was too slow to dodge the incoming projectile, and fell to the ground as Eliwood's javelin entered directly into its heart.

"I-I think we-we're all clear, L-lord Hector!" Florina shakily reported from high above her pegasus. Everyone surveyed the surrounding area, and nodded when they were satisfied that they were safe for the time being. The two lords had agreed to lead a large part of their army through the northeast path towards Limstella. Although this route was the most direct one, it was also one of the most heavily guarded paths. Thanks to the power of their Heaven Seals, Hector and Eliwood together proved to be an almost unstoppable force on their own, wiping out the entire front line of morphs. With Florina, Rebecca, Dart, Serra (to Hector's chagrin), and even Nils supporting them, their enemy stood no chance.

"I think I see a sniper riding a Ballista on the far bank," Rebecca observed. "Do you want me to snipe him with my own ballista?" she asked Eliwood.

Eliwood nodded. "Do it," he ordered. Nodding, Rebecca mounted the nearest ballista and fired at the enemy sniper. The morph took the spear straight into the chest and disintegrated on the spot, leaving the ballista empty. Satisfied, Rebecca turned and saluted to Eliwood, signaling that the job was done.

"Lord Eliwood?" Nils suddenly spoke up, his face alert. "I can feel something…in that building over across the river! Next to the bishop morph that you just killed!"

"Is it more enemies?" Eliwood asked, tensing. Nils' future sight had always been true so far, so everyone took his predictions seriously.

"No…it's not a person…nor even a morph," Nils replied, concentrating. "It's an object…of a unique power…like one of my sister's rings!"

Eliwood winced slightly at the mention of Ninian but steeled himself. "I'll get it," he volunteered. He quickly marched across a bridge and entered the ruined structure. There was only a single room, completely deserted with only a few items scattered about. Eliwood ignored most of the room, focusing only on a single chest placed on the rear stone wall. He slashed the lock open with his Silver Sword and opened the chest. Inside was an emerald ring with a shining jewel on its center. "Just like one of Ninian's rings," he realized, and sorrow briefly filled his mind at the terrible crime that he had committed. He put the ring in his pocket and exited the ruins, shutting the door behind him.

"Here you go, Nils," Eliwood returned to the bard, handing him the ring.

"I've seen this ring before!" Nils suddenly realized. "It's called Set's Litany. When I invoke its power, it briefly empowers a person by making him more nimble and dexterous, particularly when dodging attacks!"

"Then I'm sure you will use it well," Eliwood smiled. "Now," he continued, lifting his sword, "let's meet up with our friends and take the fight to Limstella!"

/

Dusk watched as Lyndis sliced a General to pieces with her Mani Katti. "Your swordsplay is as beautiful as ever," he nodded approvingly.

"You give me far too much credit," she replied, blushing slightly as she did so. She looked up to see some wyvern riders flying towards her. "Dart?"

"Out of my way, whelps!" he retorted. He took out two hand axes and swung them, one after another. Both wyvern riders fell out of the sky and burst into pieces as they hit the ground.

Suddenly, the sky darkened and blackish-purple flames appeared in the sky. "It's an Eclipse spell!" Dusk realized. "Watch yourselves!" Everyone took cover as the spell converged into a purple orb on the ground. The orb exploded, but the Druid casting the spell had done so inaccurately, and nobody had been injured.

"You can see why I don't use that spell, ever," Dusk muttered. He turned to Priscilla. "May I see that Bolting tome, please?" he asked the Etrurian valkyrie.

Priscilla looked at him surprise. "Umm…Dusk…it isn't really my place to tell you this, but you're a Druid. You only specialize in Dark magic, not Anima."

"Nevertheless, I would like to see that tome, if you will," Dusk replied evenly. Although clearly confused, Priscilla gave her tactician the Bolting tome.

"Now, then," he said quietly, closing his eyes. He took out a staff that none of them had ever seen before and crossed it across his body. Suddenly, a wall of darkness erupted from the ground around him, similar to the one that Nergal had summoned to attack him back at Durandal's resting place. Everyone yelled out and backed away, shocked and even frightened of Dusk's newfound power. Dusk lifted the staff and pointed it towards his enemy. The sky darkened and a bolt of lightning blasted down from the heavens, striking the enemy Druid down. Dusk knew with a grim satisfaction that his spell had hit his mark when a Nosferatu tome appeared before him, for magic tomes occasionally surrendered themselves to their conquerors when their wielders were slain.

"Dusk…" Lyn spluttered, "what…how did you…"

"Some brief training with Lord Athos," Dusk briefly responded, "before we arrived at the Dread Isle,"

"But…that's impossible…" Lyn struggled to get her words out, still in a state of shock.

Canas put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Leave it alone, Lady Lyndis. Our tactician has been studying the ways of magic much longer than any of us have, with two very powerful mentors, no less. He no doubt has mastered that magic in a way that would be inconceivable to anyone else on this earth."

He turned to Dusk. "Isn't that right, Dusk?"

But his words fell on deaf ears, for all of Dusk's attention had fallen upon an ancient ruin that lay just on the other side of the mountain. "Dusk?"

"That temple over there…" Dusk murmured, almost under his breath, "I sense a familiar presence in that ruin…"

"An enemy?" Lyndis asked.

Dusk shook his head. "No…the exact opposite," he mumbled incoherently. "Almost as though…an old friend…were waiting…but how…I don't understand…"

"What do you want us to do?" Priscilla inquired.

Dusk shook his head. "I need you to clear out the enemies surrounding the temple," he ordered, with much more force than any of them had expected. "I cannot leave this riddle unanswered. Make sure that no enemy morphs make it into the building while I am inside."

As his army met with the first group of morphs, Dusk slipped inside the ancient temple. The old stone walls seemed to block out most of the sounds of the battle outside, giving an odd sense of peace in the midst of the ferocity occurring outside.

"Hello?" he called out, confident that someone he knew was in that building.

"Arch…sage?"

Dusk started. That voice! It couldn't be!

"Arch…sage?" A young girl stepped out from the shadows of the ruin. She wore the purple robes of a shaman, with lilac hair flowing down her back and purple eyes trying to find out who had entered her refuge. Her eyes widened. "Lord…Dusk?" she gasped.

"Sophia!" Dusk exclaimed. The two approached each other and embraced warmly. They had been close friends back in Arcadia, and Dusk had been helping her practice dark magic before he left to investigate the darkness caused by Nergal's recent rise. "What…what are you doing here? This place isn't safe!"

"I was looking for the Archsage," Sophia replied quietly. "I…I have a gift for him. He…he isn't here, is he?" she asked hopefully.

"No," Dusk shook his head, "he has gone to prepare for the final battle against the darkness. Whatever you wish to entrust to him, however, I will deliver for you."

Despite looking disappointed at the news, Sophia nodded and reached into her robes. She took out a ruby medallion encased in a gold casing, a gold chain wrapped around it.

"A Talisman?" Dusk asked.

Sophia nodded. "For the future…" she explained. "Please…don't lose…if the light is strong enough…it can dispel the darkness…"

"We will not lose," Dusk affirmed, "this I swear. And Sophia…could you do me a favor?"

"What is it?" she asked.

"Tell them…tell them that if I survive…I will soon come home."

Sophia nodded. "I will…" she answered.

Dusk looked back towards the entrance of the ruin. "I must go," he realized. He turned back to Sophia. "Sophia…you must go soon. I don't want the morphs to find you and attack you. Just in case, I will seal the entrance to the ruin. Are you all right with that?"

Sophia nodded. The two embraced one more, and then Sophia slipped back into the darkness. Dusk made his way back to the entrance of the ruin and began to seal the ruin.

"How ironic," he mused as he gazed at the Talisman Sophia had given him, "that a wielder of darkness has been chosen to lead the forces of light."

/

Limstella gazed expressionlessly as all three groups of her enemies gathered in front of her. She cared not about the defeat of her own forces, for Lord Nergal had instructed her to kill his enemies and claim their quintessence. And she would follow that order faithfully, as she was created to do.

Lloyd Reed met her blank gaze with his own, though unlike the leader of the morphs his eyes were filled with both anger and a little pity. He was admittedly eager to get his revenge back on Limstella for nearly killing him back in Bern, but at the same time he felt a bit sorry for this creature in front of him. What was it like, living with no emotion and no purpose apart from fighting for a madman's scheme? He was glad that this was a question to which he would never find an answer.

He turned to Dusk, who nodded back at him. No words needed to be spoken; it was only right that the White Wolf face the morph who had tried to destroy him.

"I shall take your life and your essence," Limstella intoned as Lloyd raised his Silver Sword at her, "all for the sake of my master."

"You have tried once already," Lloyd countered evenly. "What makes you think you shall succeed now?"

Limstella said nothing, and instead lifted up an icy blue tome that Lloyd recognized all too well as Fimbulvetr. She began chanting, and Lloyd felt an icy blast hit him as her Fimbulvetr spell struck. Lloyd staggered back, but quickly regained his footing. He could tell that, although Limstella was an even more powerful sage than Sonia, she did not have Sonia's malice and cruelty to empower her attacks. "And I have Dusk to thank too," he thought, remembering the agony of his Luna spell. If his body could handle that kind of attack, then he was sure that he could endure whatever Limstella could throw at him.

Brushing any further thoughts out of his head, he leaped at Limstella and slashed twice at her. Limstella shuddered as two gashes cut across her body, but stood firm. "This one's a tough one," Lloyd dimly realized before leaping back to avoid another Fimbulvetr attack.

Sword and magic clashed against each other, with Lloyd striking at Limstella whenever he could while trying to use his agility to avoid her powerful Fimbulvetr strikes. But despite his natural resistance and speed, his body was beginning to tire and he knew he could not continue for long. He was preparing to attack again when, suddenly, Limstella seemed to falter. He couldn't explain it, but when she cast her next spell she missed horribly. Lloyd did not even need to dodge the attack.

"Now's my chance!" Without even thinking, he lunged at Limstella. Before the sage could dodge or block, he plunged the Silver Sword straight into her heart. Limstella struggled to remove the weapon from her chest, but not even a morph with a magically strengthened body could withstand such an attack. Nergal's greatest lieutenant had been defeated at last.

Limstella collapsed onto the ground, lifting her hand to her heart. As Lloyd looked down at his defeated opponent, he saw to his shock something very close to an emotion pass her eyes for the first time. Was it…sadness?

"I am…not human," she breathed out her last words. This body…and this heart…are constructs. Yes…" she continued, as if answering some unspoken question. "As is this sorrow…" and with that, she crumbled into dust.

Dusk stepped forward, looking down at the morph's remains with something resembling pity. "Go and claim the temple gate, Eliwood," he ordered as he picked up the fallen Fimbulvetr tome. As Eliwood left to obey his orders, Lloyd kneeled down next to Dusk.

"So many questions…" he muttered. "Why did she falter at the last? And was that truly sorrow that I saw in her eyes before I cut her down?"

Dusk thought for a moment before nodding in understanding. "I believe that she faltered because the magic that held her together was at last beginning to fall apart. I think she has served Nergal for quite some time, but the body of a morph is only a copy of a true human being. Even if you had not killed her now, Lloyd, her time might have come sooner than we think."

He now looked his friend in the eye. "And as for your second question, Lloyd, it has been recorded that morphs cannot truly feel emotions. Only copies of emotions given to them by their masters. But perhaps…even a copy of an emotion is better than feeling nothing at all."

Dusk looked towards the entrance to the Dragon's Gate. It was still at least two days' march away, but it was growing ever closer. "Set up camp here and prepare a watch," he ordered. "We will need all our strength for our final battle."

/

A/N: Limstella has a lot of HP for a sage, doesn't she? In fact, her particular sage class's stat caps are in some cases higher than NERGAL'S. O_O

Sorry for the long wait, when you're in another country other things tend to take priority :P

You guys like the little Dusk-Sophia moment? They're both from Arcadia, and if she could have a special conversation with Hawkeye, why not one with Dusk?

Read and review please!


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